Globalization and competition with modern industrial products is the basic and fundamental setback for the viability, sustainability and preservation of local cultural heritage of traditional arts in most part of the world. This has been the case of Casting done at Krofofrom in the Asante Kingdom of Ghana. Castings done at Krofofrom can be improved to compete with the global market for profitable economic growth. This study examined the adaptation strategies in the preservation and sustainability of the Krofofrom village traditional brass casting technology. The composition of casting mould cores used by Krofofrom artisans comprises charcoal, cow dung and clay. Although this composition results in a very stable core that disintegrates easily after casting, defects in the form of pin holes are a common occurrence on the inner walls of the cast artefacts, thereby ruining the finish. In many instances these pinholes are difficult if not impossible to remove or seal. To improve the performance of the existing core, experiments were carried out to determine suitable materials and the proportions required to reformulate and enhance the core composition. The addition of Plaster of Paris (P.O.P) to the composition prevented shrinkage and fracture while the presence of saw dust provided microscopic holes in the core structure to facilitate easy core disintegration after casting. High content aluminous clay component served to improve the refractory properties of the core. The new core composition comprising charcoal, P.O.P, saw dust and aluminous clay showed an improvement over the existing Krofofrom core composition. The improved composition yielded efficient cores that disintegrated easily after casting and impart smoother inner wall surface devoid of pinholes. Piercing and carving useful for wax pattern production is achievable when the appropriate wax formulation developed in this study is adhered to.
| Published in | American Journal of Art and Design (Volume 6, Issue 3) |
| DOI | 10.11648/j.ajad.20210603.14 |
| Page(s) | 95-102 |
| Creative Commons |
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited. |
| Copyright |
Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Science Publishing Group |
Metal Casting, Core Composition, Beeswax, Lost Wax Casting, Refractory Materials
| [1] | Asiedu, A. B., Labi, K. A. and Osei-Tutu, B., 2009. An Asanteman–World Bank Heritage Development Initiative in Promoting Partnership with Ghanaian Traditional Leaders. Africa Today, 55 (4), pp. 3-26. |
| [2] | Apley, A. (2009). African lost Wax Casting: The Tada figure, Retrieved from www.metmuseum.org on 26th of April, 2010. |
| [3] | Collins, N. (2007). Cow dung in Lost Wax Casting. Retrieved from www.lost-wax-casting.com on 23rd of February, 2011. |
| [4] | Garrard, F. T. (1980), Akan weights and the Gold trade. New York and London: Longman group Ltd, p. 209. |
| [5] | Gupta P. R. B. (1983), Foundry Engineering. India, Tech India Publication, pp. 19 and 154 to 157. |
| [6] | Gyekye, K. (1996). African Cultural Values An Introduction. Sankofa Publishing Company. Accra. |
| [7] | Kallenberg, L. (1981), Modeling in Wax for Jewellery and Sculpture. New York: Chilton Book Company. |
| [8] | Kissi, S. B. (2011), Evaluation of Bees Wax and Core Materials for Traditional Lost Wax Casting. M. F. A Thesis, KNUST: Kumasi. |
| [9] | Kumar and Shende (2006). Cooking Stove. Madhav Institute of Technology and Science. www.appropedia.org/efficientcooking. On 5th July, 2010. |
| [10] | Leclarcq, B. (2008). The Honeybee and Man. Retrieved from http://google-search.com on the 11th of August, 2009. |
| [11] | Martha, E. (1989), Early Akan Gold. London, African Arts, Cambridge: Cambridge African Studies Centre, Vol. 22, p. 87. |
| [12] | Omekwu, C. O. (2006). African culture and libraries: The Information Technology Challenges. Electronic Library, 24 (2), 247-248. |
| [13] | Ross, D. H. (1977), The Iconography of Ashanti Sword Ornament. California: African Art, African Studies Center. University of California. Vol 6, p. 18. |
| [14] | Schaefer, R. T. (2002). Sociology: A brief introduction. 4th ed. Boston: McGraw Hill. |
| [15] | Sias R. F. (2005), Lost-Wax Casting Old, New and Inexpensive Method. South Carolina, Woodsmere Press, Pendleton. |
| [16] | Waters, L. (1993), Lost Wax Casting in Ashanti, Kumasi, University Press, KNUST. p. 34. |
| [17] | Worral, W. E. A. (1986) Clay and Ceramic Raw Materials, New York: Elsevier Applied Science. p. 14. |
APA Style
Samuel Baah Kissi, Steve Kquofi, Peggy Ama Fening. (2021). Asante Indigenous Lost Wax Cast Evolution for Profitable Economic Growth. American Journal of Art and Design, 6(3), 95-102. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajad.20210603.14
ACS Style
Samuel Baah Kissi; Steve Kquofi; Peggy Ama Fening. Asante Indigenous Lost Wax Cast Evolution for Profitable Economic Growth. Am. J. Art Des. 2021, 6(3), 95-102. doi: 10.11648/j.ajad.20210603.14
AMA Style
Samuel Baah Kissi, Steve Kquofi, Peggy Ama Fening. Asante Indigenous Lost Wax Cast Evolution for Profitable Economic Growth. Am J Art Des. 2021;6(3):95-102. doi: 10.11648/j.ajad.20210603.14
Share This Article
Twitter
Linked In
Facebook
Copy
Download@article{10.11648/j.ajad.20210603.14,
author = {Samuel Baah Kissi and Steve Kquofi and Peggy Ama Fening},
title = {Asante Indigenous Lost Wax Cast Evolution for Profitable Economic Growth},
journal = {American Journal of Art and Design},
volume = {6},
number = {3},
pages = {95-102},
doi = {10.11648/j.ajad.20210603.14},
url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajad.20210603.14},
eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ajad.20210603.14},
abstract = {Globalization and competition with modern industrial products is the basic and fundamental setback for the viability, sustainability and preservation of local cultural heritage of traditional arts in most part of the world. This has been the case of Casting done at Krofofrom in the Asante Kingdom of Ghana. Castings done at Krofofrom can be improved to compete with the global market for profitable economic growth. This study examined the adaptation strategies in the preservation and sustainability of the Krofofrom village traditional brass casting technology. The composition of casting mould cores used by Krofofrom artisans comprises charcoal, cow dung and clay. Although this composition results in a very stable core that disintegrates easily after casting, defects in the form of pin holes are a common occurrence on the inner walls of the cast artefacts, thereby ruining the finish. In many instances these pinholes are difficult if not impossible to remove or seal. To improve the performance of the existing core, experiments were carried out to determine suitable materials and the proportions required to reformulate and enhance the core composition. The addition of Plaster of Paris (P.O.P) to the composition prevented shrinkage and fracture while the presence of saw dust provided microscopic holes in the core structure to facilitate easy core disintegration after casting. High content aluminous clay component served to improve the refractory properties of the core. The new core composition comprising charcoal, P.O.P, saw dust and aluminous clay showed an improvement over the existing Krofofrom core composition. The improved composition yielded efficient cores that disintegrated easily after casting and impart smoother inner wall surface devoid of pinholes. Piercing and carving useful for wax pattern production is achievable when the appropriate wax formulation developed in this study is adhered to.},
year = {2021}
}
TY - JOUR T1 - Asante Indigenous Lost Wax Cast Evolution for Profitable Economic Growth AU - Samuel Baah Kissi AU - Steve Kquofi AU - Peggy Ama Fening Y1 - 2021/09/03 PY - 2021 N1 - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajad.20210603.14 DO - 10.11648/j.ajad.20210603.14 T2 - American Journal of Art and Design JF - American Journal of Art and Design JO - American Journal of Art and Design SP - 95 EP - 102 PB - Science Publishing Group SN - 2578-7802 UR - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajad.20210603.14 AB - Globalization and competition with modern industrial products is the basic and fundamental setback for the viability, sustainability and preservation of local cultural heritage of traditional arts in most part of the world. This has been the case of Casting done at Krofofrom in the Asante Kingdom of Ghana. Castings done at Krofofrom can be improved to compete with the global market for profitable economic growth. This study examined the adaptation strategies in the preservation and sustainability of the Krofofrom village traditional brass casting technology. The composition of casting mould cores used by Krofofrom artisans comprises charcoal, cow dung and clay. Although this composition results in a very stable core that disintegrates easily after casting, defects in the form of pin holes are a common occurrence on the inner walls of the cast artefacts, thereby ruining the finish. In many instances these pinholes are difficult if not impossible to remove or seal. To improve the performance of the existing core, experiments were carried out to determine suitable materials and the proportions required to reformulate and enhance the core composition. The addition of Plaster of Paris (P.O.P) to the composition prevented shrinkage and fracture while the presence of saw dust provided microscopic holes in the core structure to facilitate easy core disintegration after casting. High content aluminous clay component served to improve the refractory properties of the core. The new core composition comprising charcoal, P.O.P, saw dust and aluminous clay showed an improvement over the existing Krofofrom core composition. The improved composition yielded efficient cores that disintegrated easily after casting and impart smoother inner wall surface devoid of pinholes. Piercing and carving useful for wax pattern production is achievable when the appropriate wax formulation developed in this study is adhered to. VL - 6 IS - 3 ER -
Information
Email: