Introduction
When we look at a finished piece of lost-wax Liuli, what we notice first is usually the color, the way it catches the light, and the form of the finished object.
But before it becomes Liuli, the same piece exists in a completely different material: wax.
Lost-wax Liuli is not made by shaping glass directly into its final form. A piece moves through a series of stages — from the initial design and sculpted prototype to silicone molding, wax casting, plaster molding, dewaxing, kiln firing, mold removal, and hand finishing.
One of the most important steps is also the least visible in the finished work: removing the wax.
Artisans spend considerable time making and refining a complete wax model, only to melt it away later. Why make something so carefully if it is meant to disappear?
Because the space the wax leaves behind will eventually become the shape of the Liuli.
1. Before the Wax: From an Idea to a Prototype
Every piece begins with an idea. Inspiration might come from a flower, a leaf, the outline of a landscape, a memory, or something observed in everyday life.
Before any glass is involved, those ideas have to become workable lines, proportions, and structures. Once the design is established, a physical prototype is created. The prototype defines the basic form of the piece and many of the details that will later appear in the wax model.
How thick should a petal be? How should its edge curve? How should separate forms connect? From which angle does the piece feel most balanced? These decisions are worked through at the prototype stage.
By the time Liuli enters the process, the form itself has already been considered, adjusted, and refined many times.
2. Making the Wax Model: The Piece Before Glass
Once the prototype is complete, a silicone mold is made from it. Hot wax is then poured into the mold. After the wax cools and sets, it is carefully removed.
What emerges is a wax model that closely resembles the form of the final Liuli piece.
It is not ready for the next stage yet. The surface must be inspected, edges refined, seams cleaned up, and small structural details adjusted by hand. For more complex designs — with layered petals, fine textures, or sculptural forms — this stage can require especially close attention.
The wax model is therefore more than a temporary step in the mold-making process. It is the first time the work exists as a complete three-dimensional object before it becomes Liuli.
And yet, this version of the piece will not survive the process.
3. Dewaxing: Why Melt Away a Finished Wax Model?
Once the wax model has been refined, it is encased in heat-resistant plaster. After the plaster sets, the mold is heated so that the wax inside gradually melts and drains away. This is the step that gives the lost-wax process its name.
When the wax is gone, it leaves a hollow cavity inside the plaster that matches the wax model's shape. That cavity is where the Liuli will go.
The curve of a petal, the texture of a surface, and changes in depth and relief are all preserved in this negative space.
Dewaxing can look like the destruction of something that has just been carefully made. In practice, it is what makes the next stage possible.
The wax has done its job. Now the Liuli takes its place.
4. Kiln Firing: Filling the Space Left by Wax
After dewaxing, the Liuli material is prepared according to the needs of the design and placed with the mold for kiln firing.
At high temperatures, the material softens and flows under gravity into the cavity once occupied by the wax.
This may sound like a simple matter of heating glass, but it is one of the most critical stages of the process. Kiln firing is a long, controlled stage shaped by temperature, gravity, and time. Temperature, the amount of material, and the thickness and structure of the piece can all affect the result.
In Yuen Design's current process, the full kiln cycle for some pieces can last more than 15 days, with temperatures reaching above 800°C (1,472°F). The exact schedule varies according to the size, thickness, and structure of the work.
Reaching the peak temperature is not the end of the process. The Liuli must also cool gradually under controlled conditions. For lost-wax Liuli, time is not simply time spent waiting. It is part of the making.
5. Why Does Each Piece Look Slightly Different?
Even when two pieces come from the same design and the same mold, handmade lost-wax Liuli will not look identical in every detail. The reason is built into the process itself.
During firing, color can move subtly through the material. Areas of different thickness interact with light differently, and bubbles of varying sizes may remain suspended inside the glass.
Place two pieces of the same design side by side, and you may notice small differences in color transitions, bubble placement, and internal texture.
These variations do not mean that the design has changed. They are traces of heat, material behavior, and handcraft.
At Yuen Design, we do not treat every natural variation as something that should be eliminated. These differences are part of what identifies a piece as handmade Liuli.
6. Breaking the Mold: Seeing the Liuli for the First Time
Once firing and controlled cooling are complete, the plaster mold has to be broken away. Because the plaster completely surrounds the piece, it is carefully chipped and removed before the Liuli inside can be fully revealed.
This is one of the most direct moments in the entire process.
The prototype, the silicone mold, the wax model, and the plaster mold have all served the same final piece. By this stage, the wax has melted away and the plaster mold is destroyed.
What remains is the Liuli.
But the piece that comes out of the mold is still not the finished work.
7. Coldworking: Back to the Artisan's Hands
After demolding, the piece moves into coldworking, which can include cutting, refining, grinding, and polishing.
Connections created during casting may need to be removed, edges refined, and surfaces finished to achieve the intended texture and feel.
After firing, cutting, grinding, and polishing bring the Liuli to its final finish. At this point, the process moves away from the kiln and back into the artisan's hands.
Depending on the design, engraving, painting, or other surface treatments may also be added.
The purpose is not to reinvent the form created in the kiln, but to bring the fired Liuli to its final state. Clarity, texture, edges, and small details are gradually refined until the piece is ready to leave the workshop.
After the Wax Is Gone
There is something unusual about lost-wax Liuli: much of what is made along the way is not meant to remain.
The prototype establishes the design. The silicone mold transfers the form. The wax model defines the space. The plaster mold carries the work through the kiln. One by one, each completes its role and leaves the process.
What remains is the Liuli.
That is also why the term “lost wax” feels so fitting. It describes exactly what happens, rather than hiding the process behind the finished object.
Before a Liuli piece exists, there really was a complete version of it made in wax. It was carefully made, refined by hand, and then allowed to disappear.
The Liuli ultimately takes the place it left behind.