Furger (2017), The Gilded Buddha

Part 1 The manufacture of statues of Buddhist deities … 21
Specialisations and work stages … 23
The cire perdue technique … 25
Wax model production … 26
Craft and contemplation … 26
Modelling … 27
Mandatory proportions … 27
Focus on the art of the Newar modellers … 27
Preparing the wax plates … 31
The modeller’s tools … 31
Constructing a figure from its component parts … 31
The actual wax modelling process … 33
Solid casting of small statues … 37
Hollow casting of larger statues … 37
Intricate decoration … 38
Casting in sections … 38
Determining the amount of metal required … 38
How long does it take? … 38
Copying from a template … 41
“Back-up copy” or second model … 41
Serial model making … 41
From making duplicates to mass production … 41
Taking serial impressions from thāsā-matrices … 43
Indirect casting with matrices … 47
Casting in bi-valve clay moulds … 47
Traditional mould making … 48
Clays are a science … 48
“High-tech” using natural methods … 55
Preparing the clay mould for casting … 57
Dewaxing to create an accurate hollow body … 57
Pre-firing the moulds to make them heat-resistant … 58
The actual casting process … 58
A well-drilled team … 58
Heavy work: casting … 59
The big moment … 66
Setbacks and disappointments: defective castings and repairs … 70
Tradition and innovation … 72
The crucible furnaces (bhõcā-gaḥ, fig. … 88,B) … 74
The kilns for the clay moulds (sāya-gaḥ fig. … 88,C) … 77
Combination kilns for crucibles and moulds
(thāyāyagu-gaḥ, fig. … 88,D) … 77
Furnaces with ventilation windows: the kwajhya furnace … 77
Supplying air to the furnace with bellows … 77
African-style innovation? … 78
Casting large bronzes … 80
Special dimensions for religious pieces … 80
Assembling the casting sections … 84
Cold work: trimming, cleaning, chasing, grinding and polishing … 86
Trimming and grinding … 86
Punching and chasing … 89
Cold work techniques … 89
Extreme division of labour … 89
Characteristics of chased work … 91
Not engraving … 91
Burnishing … 93
Sealing the base … 95
Visit to the chasing workshop of
Raju and Umesh Shakya … 97
Visit to the chasing workshop of Buddha Shakya … 97
Visit to the chasing workshop of Subarna Shakya … 99
Fire gilding … 102
“Gold-rich Himalayas” – “gold-rich Nepal” … 102
Fire gilding: the hallmark of Himalayan countries … 102
Leaf gilding: the hallmark of Southeast Asia … 104
Other gilding techniques … 104
The formula for gold amalgam … 106
Making the amalgam and preparing objects
for gilding … 108
Applying the amalgam … 108
Poison! … 111
Vaporising the mercury … 111
“Scratch-brushing” and burnishing … 113
Patinating … 116
Patinating with ferric oxide … 116
Patinating to create an “antique” surface … 116
Letting the patinating mixture work its way into the surface … 118
Lengthy patination with salt and acid … 118
Patinating by burying underground … 118
Patinating by staining … 122
Patinating by annealing … 122
Patinating by rubbing in fat … 123
Patinating a fire-gilded surface … 123
Further ways of “aging” statues … 123
Ju Mi-Pham’s historical patination formula … 123
Painting … 125
Gilded and painted faces … 125
In historical times … 125
Present-day colourful acrylics … 127
A profession in itself … 127
Gold colour and traditional pigments … 128
Real gold colouring … 128
A palette of many colours, extracted laboriously from natural pigments … 129
Inlays of metal, precious and semi-precious stones … 132
Colour contrasts with different metals … 132
Technique … 132
Metals, alloys and colours … 132
Provenance and distribution of the inlay work … 132
A flair for inlaid stones … 133
The stones … 133
The settings … 137
Gems with a sprinkling of semi-precious stones … 137

Part 2: The historical and social background … 139
The history of Newar metal casting … 141
Indian sources … 141
Kauṭilya’s Arthaśāstra … 141
Viṣṇudharmottara purāņa … 141
Varāha Mihira’s Bṛhatsaṃhitā … 141
Citralakṣaṇa … 142
Pratimālakṣaṇa … 142
Ṡāriputra … 142
Kāśyapa-jñānakāṇḍah … 142
Kāraṇāgama … 142
Rasaratna Samuccaya … 143
The Śilpaśāstras … 143
Early examples of the Newar art of casting … 144
The power of iconography and historical sketchbooks … 144
An Insider’s View (by Ratna Jyoti Shajya) … 150
Pāṭan’s importance as a centre of metals crafts … 150
Trade and market of the statues some generations ago … 150
The economic importance of Pāṭan’s metal crafts for Nepal … 151
The growth of Newar’s artistic economy after the revival of Tibetan culture … 151
Problems of unemployment and the trend towards job-seeking abroad … 152
The worker’s situation regarding health, welfare and insurance … 152
Traditional work versus modern high-tech … 152
The Nepalese ethnic group of the Newar and the Shakya clan … 152
The Shakyas’ Buddhist art work after the downfall of Tibet and in their exile in India … 152
The Shakyas’ involvement in Buddhist metal craftsmanship today … 153
The profound relationship between religious art, crafts and divinities within Buddhism … 153
Family, training and newcomers to the trade … 155
Family tradition and the influence of “outsiders” … 155
Training and teaching … 156
Mass production … 157
In fashion … 157
Workshop visit and “mechanical plant” … 157
Silicone rubber moulds … 160
Vulcanised rubber moulds … 160
Injecting the wax … 161
Casting plaster in flasks … 161
Vacuum casting … 161
The “customers” … 167
Abbots and monks, temples and monasteries … 167
Practising Buddhists in Nepal, Asia and all over the world … 167
Tourists, exporters and Asian boutiques … 170
The issue of thieves, dealers and
collectors of antiquities … 170
Consecrating the cast statues … 176
Consecration as a Buddhist ritual … 176
Statues “archaeologically” investigated … 179
Votive offerings and devotional objects … 181
Consecration, de-consecration, re-consecration … 181

Part 3: The other metal-processing crafts in Nepal … 183
Sand casting … 184
Workshop visit … 184
Production steps … 184
Processed alloys … 187
Casting everyday items … 187
Household items … 187
A repertoire of traditional designs … 187
Case study: water jugs (karuwā) … 188
Competition and tradition … 188
Bells … 191
Pealing and jingling all over the land … 191
Vajra and ghanta: the thunderbolts and bells of the abbots, lamas and monks … 191
Loot … 191
Visit to a workshop making large bells … 194
The production of the “ghanta” handbells … 198
Coppersmithing … 199
A clan of its own: the Tamrakar … 199
The techniques of the coppersmiths … 201
Workshop visit … 203
Copper hammering in “repoussé” technique … 205
Technology and terminology … 205
Two different techniques that go hand in hand … 205
The technique of hammering “en repoussé” … 205
Making pieces in sections and assembling them … 209
Ductile sheets of copper and precious metals … 209
An age-old craft of the highest quality … 211
Mixed casting and repoussé technique … 211
The professional groups of repoussé specialists … 213
In the family workshop of a Tamrakar repoussé artist … 213
In the large enterprise of a Shakya repoussé artist … 217
The studio … 217
Rough hammering on a stake anvil … 219
Fine chasing with a punch on a pitch bowl … 223
Other moulding and casting techniques … 223
Assembly … 223
Case studies: repoussé works … 226
Selected examples … 226
Repoussé bowl with the eight glorious Buddhist emblems … 226
Making singing bowls … 238
Workshop visit to a singing-bowl foundry in Thimi … 239
Material analyses … 239
Preparing the sand moulds … 239
Casting … 243
Turning and burnishing … 245
Case study: large singing bowl with six images of Buddha … 245
The bowl and how it was made … 245
Adding the images of Buddha … 247
Decoration and symbolism … 247
Material analyses … 250
Silversmiths and silver casters … 251
In the silversmith’s workshop … 251
Silversmithing, hammering and punching … 251
Obtaining silver blanks … 251
Hammering … 253
Soldering … 253
Chasing and assembling … 255
Fire gilding and mounting gems … 255
Acid-cleaning, “scratch-brushing” and patinating … 255
Silver-casting … 259
Finishing and chasing … 265
A look at Nepal’s blacksmiths … 268

Part 4: Sources and prices of raw and work materials … 269
Local suppliers … 271
Metals … 271
Alloys … 272
Early alloys, based on object analyses … 272
Traditional alloys in the twentieth century … 273
The frequently cited “eight-metals” alloy “aṣṭa dhātu” … 276
The alloys used today for representations … 279
Hardness properties of alloys used in Nepal … 280
Copper … 283
Brass … 284
Zinc … 284
Brass alloys … 285
Recycling and scrap metal … 285
Bronze … 287
Tin … 287
Silver … 287
Gold … 288
Mercury … 288
Price trends … 290
Copper … 290
Brass and zinc … 290
Silver … 292
Gold … 292
The clays and their preparation … 293
“White clay” (mesiṃ-cā) … 293
“Yellow clay” (mahāsụ-cā) … 295
“Black clay” (gathi-cā) … 295
Other clays (e. g. gicha) … 295
Crucibles … 297
Industrial crucibles today … 297
The old crucibles made of “black clay” … 297
Crucibles for processing gold … 299
Types of fuel … 301
Charcoal … 301
Wood … 301
Fossil fuels … 301
Black coal … 301
Diesel … 302
Beeswax and other modelling materials … 302
Modelling wax for the model … 302
Additives and thinners … 302
Sources of supply for beeswax … 303
Other materials and auxiliary supplies … 305