Lost-wax. The casting process which requires a wax pattern, expendable, to which is attached expendable sprues and completely surrounded by a refractory material. The mold is heated, the wax melts and is poured off (dewaxing). The mold then is the vacant space, a cavity, formed by the wax pattern. Lost-wax is particularly suitable to reproducing sculpture in-the-round and especially by making hollow casts (with a core). Bronze is widely used for making lost-wax casts.

Bas-reliefs are suitable to lost-wax casting and medals two-inch and larger can be made by this process. Lost-wax was the technique of Pisanello, it was popular in the Renaissance and continues to the space age today.

Lost-wax is known by the French term cire-perdue, it is the basis of

investment casting and precision casting in modern production technology. See also cast, casting.