Demonstration Set Showing Four Stages in the Lost Wax Casting Process

Demonstration set of four pieces illustrating four stages in the lost wax brass casting process, including, (1) shaped clay core before the wax modelling has been applied; (2) wax bust of a Benin Queen Mother modelled on a clay core; (3) completed mould with cutaway to show inner structure; (4) completed brass casting of bust of an Oba. The set was commissioned from brass casters in Benin City by Robert Bradbury for an exhibition at the museum to mark Nigerian independence in October 1960. Bradbury was a British social anthropologist who was carrying out research on Edo art, history and culture at this time.