Ormolu cire perdue chandelier in tied rope pattern with tassels. Adorned with cherubs and acanthus leaves with sunburst design at cap. Cire perdue, also known as lost wax casting, is the French term for a method of casting in which a mold is formed around a wax model. When heated to form the mold, the wax model melts away so the mold literally "loses the wax." Dating back to the Bronze Age, cire perdue casting was very popular in Paris in the 19th century. More detail can be accomplished using this technique and, since the model can never be used again, every object made using this method is unique and one of a kind. This is why chandeliers cast in the cire perdue tradition are so rare and so valuable.