PSEB Class 12 Modelling & Sculpture key terms

A small lost-wax bronze figurine from Mohenjo-daro, about 10.5 cm tall, showing a standing female figure with one arm resting on her hip; it demonstrates the metal-casting skill of the Indus Valley craftsmen.

The glass-smooth, mirror-like surface given to Mauryan stone sculptures such as the Didarganj Yakshi, achieved by long abrasion with fine sand and hard stone, most often on Chunar sandstone.

A female nature spirit in early Indian art, shown as a fertile, sensuous figure often grasping a tree branch (shalabhanjika); famous examples come from Didarganj, Bharhut and Sanchi.

A school of Kushana-period sculpture centred at Mathura, using spotted red sandstone, with rounded, fleshly forms, shaven-headed Buddhas and strong indigenous Indian styling rather than Greco-Roman influence.

A Kushana-period school in north-west India that carved grey schist Buddhas and Bodhisattvas with wavy hair, heavy drapery folds and facial features showing clear Hellenistic and Roman influence.

The classicising style of Gupta sculpture, marked by serene expressions, smooth rounded modelling, clinging transparent drapery and balanced, refined proportions; seen at Sarnath and Mathura.

South Indian bronzes of the Chola period, cast by the lost-wax method, depicting deities such as Nataraja and Parvati with flowing, precise modelling and a high polish.

A traditional Indian folk lost-wax casting technique, still used by tribal craftspeople, in which a wax model covered in clay is fired and molten metal replaces the melted wax.

The property of damp clay that lets it be pushed, bent and joined without cracking, and hold the shape it is given; it depends on water content and particle size.

Kneading and cutting clay to remove air bubbles, even out moisture and make the mass homogeneous before modelling, which reduces warping and explosions during firing.

A white powder made by heating gypsum, which sets hard when mixed with water; used for moulds, casts, armature filling and quick studies because it expands slightly on setting.

A rigid internal support, usually of wire, metal rod or wood, that holds up soft modelling material such as clay or wax so a figure can stand while being built.

A sturdy adjustable table or post, often with a rotating top, on which the armature and clay figure are fixed so the sculptor can work all round the form.

A measuring tool with two curved arms used to transfer distances from the live model to the clay figure, helping keep head, shoulder and limb proportions accurate.

Fine dust from dry clay, plaster and sand can scar lung tissue (silicosis); work wet, wear a mask, vacuum rather than sweep, and never dry-sand a plaster cast indoors.

A modelling and casting material, softened by heat, that can be carved, melted and joined; used for maquettes and for the original pattern in lost-wax casting.

A fixed set of body ratios used to check a figure, such as the eight-head canon of classical Indian sculpture, in which total height equals eight head lengths.

A small rough model made quickly in clay, wax or plaster to test pose, proportion and composition before the full-size work begins.

Breaking a form into flat planes - front of the face, side of the head, cheek plane - so that light and shadow reveal structure before surface detail is added.

In a portrait study, the recognisable resemblance of the modelled head to the sitter, carried by proportion, bony landmarks and the characteristic arrangement of features rather than fine detail.

Relief in which the modelled forms project less than half their depth from the background, so the work reads mainly through light and shadow, as on coins and temple panels.

Relief in which forms project strongly, at least half their depth or more, sometimes fully undercut, casting deep shadows and reading almost as sculpture in the round.

Relief carved into the surface so the figure sits below the background plane, with outline and inner modelling creating the image; common in Egyptian and Indian rock-cut work.

A part of a relief or mould that is hollowed beneath so the form overhangs the background; in moulding, undercuts lock a rigid mould and must be avoided or the mould split.

Drawing or modelling a form as the eye sees it in perspective, so an arm pointing towards the viewer looks shorter and overlaps the body.

The empty space around and between forms, such as the gap between a figure's arm and torso; sculptors design it as carefully as the solid mass.

A one-use plaster mould built directly over a clay model and chipped away to release the cast; suitable for simple shapes without undercuts.

A mould made in several interlocking sections, often with a plaster mother mould, so it can be opened and reused for complex forms with undercuts.

A rigid outer casing, usually of plaster or fibreglass, that supports a flexible inner mould such as silicone or gelatine and keeps its shape during casting.

A thin barrier - soft soap, oil or a commercial spray - brushed on a mould surface so the cast separates cleanly without sticking or damaging fine detail.

Channels cut in a mould: the sprue pours in the casting liquid or wax, and vents let trapped air escape so the cast fills completely.

Finishing a metal or plaster cast with fine tools - hammer, punches, rifflers, abrasives - to remove seam lines, refine detail and close surface pores.

The surface colour and sheen that develops on metal or is applied chemically to a cast, ranging from green bronze corrosion to warm brown artificial finishes.

The repeated or graded movement of forms - limbs, drapery folds, edges - that leads the eye through a sculpture and gives it a sense of pulse and flow.

Balance achieved without mirror symmetry, where a large mass on one side is countered by a smaller, more complex or more strongly contrasted form on the other.

The apparent weight and three-dimensional bulk of a sculpture - how solid, hollow, heavy or light it feels, and how much space it occupies.

The surface quality of a sculpture - smooth, rough, tooled, pitted - which catches light and can contrast with or reinforce the form beneath.

A dated working record of sketches, thumbnails, photographs, material tests and notes on problems solved; it shows process and is examined in the viva.

A selected, organised collection of finished works and supporting studies presented for assessment, showing range, development and consistency of skill.

An oral examination in which the candidate talks about their own works, materials and methods and answers questions from the examiner on the syllabus.