Sand casting

DEFINITION

A method of casting in metal in which a mold is made by firmly packing layers of very fine damp sand around a sculpture. When the original is removed an exact impression is left in the sand. The more complex is the form to be cast, the more likely it will be a piece mold, and of several pieces. Medals were commonly cast in sand molds during the Renaissance. Sand casting was employed greatly in the nineteenth century for the creation of bronze sculpture in edition, most famously by French foundries. The equivalent to the sand mold in lost-wax casting is the investment.