On this page you will see the process of wax making and chasing. A wax sculpture is made from the mold which duplicates the original in every aspect. As this is a process done completely by hand, there are some imperfections. These are resolved by the artisan in accordance with the artist's specifications.

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1. The rubber mold is first painted with a thin coat of wax making sure it flows into every detail.

2. Two halves of the mold..

3. The two halves are fitted together and supporting braces are added.

4. Molten wax is poured into the mold and allowed to begin to solidify.

5. After a predetermined amount of time the molten wax is poured out, leaving a a thin coating in the mold. When the wax has thoroughly cooled, it is removed from the mold, the result being a hollow wax replica.

1. Raw waxes ready to be chased. Note the seams and sprues which need removal and refining.

2. Artisan chasing wax piece.

3. In some cases, the artists prefer to do the wax chasing themselves. In this photo, we have reknowned sculptor, Marc Mellon, chasing and checking the fine detail of his bust of former President, Ronald Reagan.

Occasionally a piece will be sculpted directly in wax as seen in this photo. Sculptor *David Gantz has used a bronze dust directly over his wax sculpture to give him a very good preview of how the sculpture will look in bronze. In this case, no mold nor chasing is needed - only the wax gates, (a.k.a. sprues) which are covered in the next step of the process which is 'gating'. * For more photos of this artist's work, please click HERE.

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