Mali Cast Bronze Wrestling Figures

In Africa, the history of lost wax casting goes back to at least the tenth century. In this method of casting, wax is first carved, and in turn, a clay mold is compacted around the carving. After the mold hardens, molten metal is poured into it replacing the wax carving; and after the molten metal cools, the mold is broken revealing the final sculpture. This process can only yield a one-of-a-kind sculpture since both the original and the mold are destroyed in the process. Lost wax casting is done today exactly as it has been for centuries – with wax, earth, and ingenuity.

Featured is a lost wax sculpture from Mali in West Africa. In many ways, it is an anomaly. Virtually all lost wax sculptures from this area are created for a particular purpose and conform to individual tribal styles. This piece does neither. If it has a purpose it isn’t evident, and the only style it appears to reference is that of the artist, whose name is unknown. Look closely at the figures. You can almost feel the artist’s hands shaping the wax as if it were Play-Doh. Are these figures wrestling, dancing, kissing, or all three? Are they male, female, or both? What did the artist want to convey? Like all good art this piece makes us wonder, but it also does something else. It reminds us of our deepest, most fundamental, primal need to create.

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