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Bronze Lion Sculpture: Large Leaping Lioness by Jonathan Sanders

Bronze Lion Sculpture: Large Leaping Lioness by Jonathan Sanders

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Including VAT: $1,255.24 Excluding VAT: $1,046.04

Orders for delivery outside of the European VAT zone are not subject to 20% VAT

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Will be dispatched on: Friday 28th March

This piece has been very popular and is currently available to pre-order. The next castings in the edition are being lovingly handmade now. We will dispatch all orders placed for this piece on the date shown above.

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Size in cm: 30w x 18h x11d cm
Size in inches: 12"w x 7"h x 4"d
Weight: 3.8kg / 8lb 7oz

Edition: 150
Material: Foundry Cast Bronze

This magnificent piece shows a lioness in all her power and might as she pounces. The sculpture is cast from 4 kilograms of bronze creating a magnificent work of art and is strictly limited to an edition of just 150 castings.

Every piece made by Nelson & Forbes is created in bronze using the ancient art of lost wax casting, which can be traced back over 6000 years and remains largely unchanged from its original form. It is the same process that was used to create famous sculptures across the globe including the Trafalgar Square Lions and the doors of the Bank of England. This process allows every intricate detail of a sculptor’s original but often fragile work to be perfectly recreated in a beautiful material and ensures that their sculpture will last a lifetime and can be passed down from generation to generation.

The original Large Leaping Lioness sculpture was created by Jonathan Sanders, before being carefully hand cast in solid bronze by Nelson and Forbes in a British foundry. It is presented in an British hand made gift box, together with a numbered certificate of authenticity, signed by the artist, Jonathan Sanders.

Each certificate is individually printed by hand in Hampshire from an original copperplate engraving, before being signed by Jonathan Sanders. It bears the edition number of your sculpture and is your guarantee that this is an original foundry casting of Jonathan Sanders's work that he has personally approved.

This bronze casting is a perfect recreation of the artist's original sculpture and took two weeks to create. It bears the artist's signature and its own unique edition number. As every piece is cast by hand and the mould is then destroyed, each one is an original and so will be very slightly different to the last.

Jonathan Sanders has an enviable reputation as a sculptor of African wildlife. He has spent many years studying the form and movement of the animals he loves at close quarters in their native Africa. His deep knowledge and understanding of his subjects allows him to exquisitely capture the animal’s raw spirit and to imbue each of his pieces with an emotion that means his art is highly sought after by animal lovers and collectors alike.

The Large Leaping Lioness is the first lioness that Jonathan has sculpted since he was commissioned by the Born Free Foundation to sculpt a portrait of Elsa to celebrate their 25th Anniversary. He sculpted this piece in response to requests from collectors for a larger piece, so we hope you enjoy it. If you have any questions about it, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Please note that as with all our sculpture, Large Leaping Lioness will be transported in a custom foam lined heavy duty shipping carton, ensuring that it arrives with you in pristine condition.

Jonathan Sanders Biography Photo Jonathan Sanders was born in 1959, and completed a degree in Fine Art at North Staffordshire University in the early 1970's.

While Jonathan was training, his talent for sculpting was immediately spotted, but he chose at that time to follow a career as a painter and his work quickly became sought after by collectors.

His work is so highly regarded that he undertook several notable commissions at that time including the cover for the South African band Ladysmith Black Mambazo’s album ‘In Harmony’ and a personal portrait of Nelson Mandela.

His original paintings are sought after and held in collections worldwide and his prints reach a wide audience both as limited editions in galleries and open editions sold in Next and Ikea.

As he painted, inspired by the landscape, wildlife, people around him and native African art, he gradually found that these same influences were also inspiring him to revisit his passion for sculpting.

Jonathan began to experiment with clay and wax, gradually developing a unique way of capturing the mood and weight of the animals he spent so long studying in East Africa.

"I find working in the three dimensional form truly fascinating," he says. "The pose has to have an element of drama. Then comes the anatomy of the subject which has to be accurate, but not to the point of compromising the movement and presence of the piece."

Jonathan initially cast several of his wildlife sculptures in bronze resin, but when asked what it means to see his work cast in solid bronze, he explains:

"The Bronze reveals all the manipulation of the original material. Its patina has a depth of colour that absorbs and reflects light. Pick the piece up and it feels heavy in the hand. A tactile, permanent piece of work that truly reveals the qualities of the artist’s hand."

His first limited edition bronze sculptures sold out swiftly and he is currently working on new pieces in his studio in Bath, where he lives with his wife and children.

Jonathan says, "Working in three dimensions has challenged me to look at my paintings differently and experiment with new techniques."

Creation of your bronze sculpture

Every time we cast a piece, a new mould is created and subsequently destroyed. This means that every single piece of sculpture bought from us is entirely hand made and utterly unique, which is why it is numbered by hand to tell you which casting of the edition you have bought.

1. Mould Making

A silicone rubber mould is made of the original art work. Absolutely every detail captured or missed by this mould will be reproduced in the bronze castings. Depending on the size of the mould, it may then be cut into sections for casting.

This is the master mould used to originate all castings of that piece. Each time that piece is ordered, we follow the following procedure:

2. Making the Wax Casting

Molten wax is poured into the rubber to create an exact wax duplicate of the original model.

3. Chasing the Wax

The wax is removed from the rubber mould any flaws are hand finished by a skilled craftsman.

4. Spruing

Wax rods and a wax pouring cup are carefully attached to the wax casting in just the right positions to allow bronze to be poured in any displaced air to escape. This means that no air bubbles are trapped inside the mould as they would be gaps in the finished bronze piece.

5. Investment

The wax model with attached rods is now covered in ceramic material which will form the mould for the final bronze pour. This is done by dipping the wax model carefully into investment liquid and then covering it in a fine powder before allowing it to cure (completely dry). The model is then dipped into investment liquid again and given a coating of a coarse ceramic powder. By following this procedure several times, a ceramic shell is built up around the wax model.

6. Burn-Out

The wax inside the ceramic shell is then placed in a kiln and fired. The shell bakes and the wax is melted (lost) from the shell. This creates a hollow ceramic shell mould and accounts for the term "Lost Wax" being applied to the process.

7. Casting

The ceramic mould is removed from the kiln and molten bronze is immediately poured into it, at 1200°C.

8. Break Out

Once the casting has been allowed to cool for several hours, the mould is carefully removed by hand from the bronze model inside.

9. Sandblasting

Any fragments of the ceramic shell are removed by sandblasting and the sculpture is carefully inspected at this point.

10. Assembly

All attached rods and cups (which are now bronze) are removed by hand. At this point, any segments of a large sculpture that has been cast in sections are welded together.

11.Chasing

All the weld marks and removed and rod marks are chased and re-detailed by hand. Any scars left by the rods are carefully blended to match the rest of the sculpture’s surface as intended by the artist.

12. Polishing

The bronze is hand polished in preparation for the patina.

13. Patination

The bronze is first heated before the chemical patina is applied by an artist. A patina can achieve many different colours or effects depending on the mix of chemicals used.

14. Waxing

Finally a wax coating is hand applied before the piece is polished to ensure a beautiful lustrous patina.

15. Numbering

Finally, the piece is numbered by hand. It is numbered as the casting number, followed by a slash and finally the edition size. For examples, 5/250 means that your piece was the fifth piece to be cast from the master mould out of 250 castings made. The piece also bears the signature of the artist. Jonathan Sanders pieces are all marked with a JS or JRS.

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All orders are sent using a tracked, insured, express service.

All in stock items are dispatched the working day after we receive your order. Out of stock items will be dispatched on the date shown on the listing.

UK deliveries – next working day - FREE
UK deliveries are shipped by DPD Local, who will send a one hour window to your mobile or email on the morning of delivery so you don’t have to wait around for your parcel.

We use a next working day service as standard (NI, Highlands and Islands take two working days). If you choose and pay for a Saturday or Sunday delivery when you check out (and order before 6am on a Friday), your order will arrive with you the first Saturday or Sunday after you place your order. If you order after 6am on Friday, your order will arrive one weekend later.

If you are in a rush, or need any special arrangements, please call us on 01442 256290 and we will be delighted to help.

All parcels arrive in plain, unbranded brown cartons to help keep the contents a secret.

Deliveries outside the UK - FREE
Deliveries outside the UK are shipped by TNT, who will email your tracking information to you.

We use an express service that will be delivered on a weekday. Deliveries to Europe, the USA and Canada typically take 2 -3 working days, with other destinations taking 3 – 5 working days.

All parcels arrive in Nelson & Forbes branded shipping packaging when sent overseas.

For full details please see USA Shipping / International Shipping