Metalwork

Metalwork has been used to create Asian statues and decorative pieces for millennia. The earliest metalwork items were ritual vessels for worshipping or presenting offerings to ancestors and the gods, objects celebrating important events in the lives of rulers and ancestors, or images of gods and deities worshipped by devotees. Our collection has fine metalwork items made either using the lost wax casting method or by casting pieces using a mold. The lost wax produces a one-of-a-kind work of art because the mold is damaged, altered or destroyed during or after its use as exemplified by utilitarian and religious item made by Indian Dhorka metalsmiths. Molded pieces can produce multiple versions most often using bronze, brass, iron and metal alloys with smaller works made using gold and silver Originally only for the rich and imperially sanctioned, especially in China, metals were later used to make utilitarian vessels and utensils, ceremonial, ritualistic. decorative and religious objects, architectural ornamentation, personal ornament, weapons, armor and bells. Metal craft techniques include repousse, hammering, embossing, cloisonné, enameling among others. Thai, Burmese and Nepalese items in our site including Buddha images, are generally mold made using bronze, brass, and other copper alloys.