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Bronze Elephant Sculpture: Asian Elephant Mother and Baby by Jonathan Sanders

Bronze Elephant Sculpture: Asian Elephant Mother and Baby by Jonathan Sanders

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Including VAT: $859.20 Excluding VAT: $716.00

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

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Will be dispatched on: Friday 13th December

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: 13w x 9.5h x 5.5d and 7w x 4.5h x 2.5w cm
Size in inches: 5¾"w x 3¾"h x 2¼"d and 2¾"w x 1¾"h x 1"d
Weight: (Set) 1.1kg / 2lb 7oz

Edition: 250
Material: Foundry Cast Bronze

This sculpture of an Asian Elephant Mother and Baby beautifully captures a gentle moment of tenderness between a mighty Asian elephant and her vulnerable young calf.

Sculpted by the renowned sculpture of African wildlife, Jonathan Sanders, this Asian Elephant Mother and Baby sculpture is hand cast in solid bronze as a limited edition of just 250 castings worldwide.

The sculpture is composed of two separate elephants that can be arranged as you wished, creating many different stories and moods as the arrangement changes. From sweetly shy to positively playful, the character of the baby is revealed to be noticeably different depending on how it is displayed in relation to its mother.

Every casting of Asian Elephant Mother and Baby is individually numbered as one of a limited edition and bears the artist’s signature along with our ‘NF’ maker’s mark. It arrives beautifully presented in a British handmade gift box, accompanied by an artist signed and numbered certificate of authenticity, all ready to be given as a wonderful gift.

This sculpture is made of real foundry bronze, it is NOT made of resin! The lost wax bronze casting process that we use for each casting is carried out in fourteen separate stages by an experienced team of artisans, each highly skilled in their individual craft. We are proud to say that all of our sculptures, gift boxes and certificates are lovingly created by hand right here in the UK, by talented craftsmen using ancient skills which have been passed down from generation to generation.

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

Reviews

Customer Reviews 2 item(s)

Support

Overall Satisfaction

Too many wild elephants snared, leaving orphans. They need our support. Lovely to see mother and baby together, even if only in representation. Review by C.S / (Posted on 22/01/2019)

A pleasure doing business with Nelson & Forbes

Overall Satisfaction

Dear Deborah, I am pleased to say that delivery of my order was made today and my wife is extremely pleased with mother and baby. The pair now occupy pride of place on our ivory coloured lounge mantelpiece (see pic) which shows off the bronze colouring perfectly and where my wife is sure it will be admired by family and friends too.
Thank you for your care and attention to detail throughout the ordering process, which made it a pleasure doing business with Nelson & Forbes.