The bronzes in this exhibition originate from India, China, Sri Lanka and the Himalayan regions and most of them were exclusively created by the lost form method (lost wax), a process of casting metal images that is known in the West as cire perdue. The shape of the object was initially sculpted in hard wax, often based on a clay core, and then covered with successive layers of clay, except for the mouth of the pouring channel, till a fairly thick and solid coat was obtained. Once the clay mould had dried, it was heated in an oven to allow the melted wax to drain away through vent holes. Molten metal was poured through channels into the cavity of the mould to take the place of the wax. After the metal was sufficiently cooled, the outer shell of clay was broken off to reveal the metal image. The inner clay core was often removed to accommodate consecrated materials. The main difference of the cire perdue technique and other casting methods was that each mould could only be used once, as it was ‘lost’ (broken) in the course of casting. It implies that each image was modelled and cast individually and was therefore a unique artefact.