The Mysterious ‘Lost Wax´ Process

Find out in these pages about the 'lost wax' process, and about the creation of a portrait sculpture from its commission right through to the final piece.  Each stage of the process has been filmed, photographed and narrated- this can be viewed in the video gallery.  But remember, don't try this at home!

KS Curriculum Links:

This Learning Journey can be used as a resource for:

KS3/4 Art & Design
Unit 7a - Self image. Exploring personal identity
Unit 8C - Shared View
Unit 9C - Personal Spaces, Public Spaces.

KS3/4 Design & Technology

GCSE - Applied Art & Design
Project Briefs

Exploring & developing ideas

Looking at how artists, craftspeople and designers work. 

Background 

In 2005 Hull Museums commissioned sculptor Nigel Boonham to produce a portrait sculpture of Sir Leo Schultz.  A small statuette, or maquette, was produced as a possible scale model for a later, full-sized statue.  It was decided to cast the statuette in bronze and display it in the Lord Mayor's Parlour at the Guildhall in Hull.  This was done using the ancient and mysterious 'lost wax' process.

Depending on your computer, some of the footage may take a moment to download.  Allow the clips to play through once and you should then be able to play them easily.  All the footage has both sound and full transcriptions.