In Old Japan there was much patience as well as skill, and the methods adopted by the artists of those days would be too tedious and expensive now when the merchants buy and sell and compete in Western markets. The processes by which the beautiful bronze objects were moulded took time, and the incising and inlays could never be paid for in proper proportion to the labour expended on them. The metals of which Japanese bronzes were made consisted of curious alloys, the composition of which was long kept a secret. One of their finest brasses is known as _sinchu_, consisting of ten parts of copper and five of zinc. Another very beautiful copper is called _shadko_, in which splendid hues are imparted by the treatment of acids; in this alloy there is one part of gold to ten of copper, to which is attributable the splendid colouring of the so-called bronze. Older methods, however, are gradually giving way to more economic production on Western plans and formulæ, so that in time perhaps the Eastern and Oriental influence and characteristics of Asiatic bronzes, so charming and so much appreciated by collectors, may diminish if not disappear altogether. XIV IDOLS AND TEMPLE RELICS [Illustration: INDIAN IDOLS. FIG. 69.--AMIDA. FIG. 70.--A "BLUE" TARA. FIG. 71.--AMITAYUS. FIG. 72.--VAJRA DHARMA. FIG. 73.--AMITAYUS.] CHAPTER XIV IDOLS AND TEMPLE RELICS Varied shrines and many idols--Indian idols--Temple vases and ornaments. There are some who hold it to be a wicked thing to loot the temple of a heathen deity, and regard it as sacrilege to ruthlessly tear down the idol from its shrine. Others glory in an opportunity of proving the powerlessness of the man-created idol to save the temple from ruin and desecration. Yet there are many who recognize in these idols of wood, stone, and metal, emblems and symbols of ancient faiths in which there may be a greater reality, and, for all we can tell, potency, to those who look beyond the mere shrine, than appears at first sight. Notwithstanding all that, the multiplicity of gods and the number of so-called deities make many sceptical about the worship of their devotees, and there are few who feel much compunction when adding such objects as metal idols to their curios--when they are able to secure them honestly. Varied Shrines and Many Idols.