| When casting bronze objects, one can either
use and re-use stone moulds, or else apply the so-called a-cire-perdue
(waste mould) process, i.e. as follows. Upon a core of clay wax or
other grease is moulded to form the shape desired. To form the outer
covering a fairly thick layer of clay is applied, in which the necessary
funnels are left open. With the application of heat the clay becomes
solid, the mould melts away, and is removed. The molten metal is now
poured in though the funnels; when cool, the outer casing is broken
away. Thus the mould goes waste. Whether this process was applied
can be established by the existence of irregularities in those parts
of the object adjacent to the funnels. Thus it is obvious that whenever
the a-circ-perdue process was applied it can hardly now be ascertained
whether the object found was really made in this area, since the original
mould has been destroyed. This was also the case with a particularly
fine kettledrum, 'The Moon of Bali', which was found near the village
of Pedjeng on the island of Bali. Prof. T. P. Galestin remarked in
this connection: "it is clear that some drums were imported,
and, in the case of a few of them at least, it is assumed - and attempts
to prove this point have been made - that they were cast in Indonesia
either by means of' the a cire-perdue process or by means of stone
moulds. For in the neighborhood of the village in question fragments
of one of these stone moulds of tuff have been found, which, to judge
by its decoration and general appearance, was designed for a drum
similar to the one found in Pedjeng. but smaller One thing is in any
case certain: the drum in Pedjeng is the largest kettle-drum in the
world, and is one of the most magnificent masterpieces ever created
by man. Whether this gem of bronze casting - the surface implies that
no moulds were employed - originates from Bali is of course quite
impossible to prove.
And he goes on to say: "If the drum was brought to Pedjeng.
possibly from Java or an area to the cast of Alor (where smaller
specimens dating from mere or less modern times were used in bride
purchases, and where some of them were imported by the Chinese at
a comparatively recent date) then the opinion expressed above about
the old drums is valid with regard to both districts. Thee assumption
that the 'Moon of Bali' may have been brought to Pedjeng in historic
times, that is to say, in the course of Hindu-Indonesian history,
cannot be entirely dismissed."
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