A COURSE in the Practice and History of Lost Wax Casting suitable for archaeologists and sculptors, which could be arranged at The Centro d'Arte Verrocchio, if enough students could be found (minimum 7). Apart from all the facilities for sculpting and casting which exist here, we are within easy reach of The Laboratory & Museum di Murlo Antea and the Centro di Archeologia Sperimentale, Antiquitates at Civitella both of which have useful points of reference. I would be pleased to conduct the course at any institution with similar assets.

In my book (see below) I describe the process of lost wax casting, the text is augmented with many photographs and diagrams but I do not delude myself that any intelligent person who has read the description must therefore understand the process sufficiently to be able to interpret the abundant evidence with which archaeology is supplied - that comes with practical experience.

My own understanding is based on over 50 years of experience as a sculptor and foundry-man. As a foundry-man I have invented and built many kilns, for firing the moulds, and furnaces for melting the bronze. Apart from normal foundry practice, I have participated in the pouring of a life-size figure in one piece; alla Cellini. I have also visited primitive foundries in India and Burma.

As a result I have been able to see many things that trained archaeologists have missed. These include a chimney on the Acropolis in Athens, another in Olympia, the method of running the bronze at Olympia, a method of steaming the moulds in Rhodes (almost certainly also used elsewhere), and the fact, yes the fact* that sculptors at the time of Phidias were making use of wax casts made direct from live models. They lavished their art on hollow wax positives, which in all probability came from plaster negative moulds (taken from life). These observations were published in the Oxford Journal of Archaeology (21- 2 & 23 � 4). They should have sparked a revolution in our understanding of classical Greek sculpture and technology but I have not discerned any movement in that direction.

The fact that I was able to make this string of discoveries in the course of two short trips to Greece and Rhodes, without the benefit of a spade or magnifying glass, might suggest that the training and mind set of archaeology as practised today are inadequate. I reported these findings to the British School in Athens in 2001, and would be interested to know whether they have conducted any scientific tests on the material found on the site, if indeed, they have even visited it, less than a mile down the road!

I am anxious to pass on my insights to those who might be interested. I am 75, time is running out, hence the course

Recommended reading �Sculpture the Art and the Practice� ISBN 0-9532568-1-3 available from - This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it Please use the same address to register your interest in attending such a course.

*Should anyone wish to contest the fact, please email me and I will publish your comments and my responses on the site.