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Wedgwood Museum Original Bronze Sculpture: Large Lying Girl by Jonathan Sanders

Wedgwood Museum Original Bronze Sculpture: Large Lying Girl by Jonathan Sanders

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Including VAT: $870.02 Excluding VAT: $725.02

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28 September 2020: This edition has now sold out.

We have sold all 250 castings of this piece, so the edition has now been closed and no more castings will be made.

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Size in cm: 20.5w x 8h x 5.5d cm
Size in inches: 8¼"w x 3¼"h x 2¼"d
Weight: 1.1kg / 2lb 5½oz

Edition: 250
Material: Foundry Cast Bronze

Following the success of "Lying Girl", many collectors asked if Jonathan Sanders would sculpt a larger piece in the same pose. We are therefore pleased to introduce to you "Large Lying Girl".

This sculpture was hand cast by Nelson & Forbes in a British foundry, in an edition of just 250. Depicting a girl reading a book, the sculpture is presented in a high quality English hand made gift box and is accompanied by a numbered booklet of information, signed by the artist, Jonathan Sanders. This booklet is your guarantee that this is an original foundry casting of Jonathan Sanders's work that he has personally approved.

Jonathan Sanders was invited by The Wedgwood Museum to create a range of contemporary bronze sculpture, inspired by its collections.

The Wedgwood Museum Collection is a unique record of the history of the Wedgwood company and of high quality English manufacturing. It includes a large range of manuscripts, correspondence, factory equipment, trials and original models as well as fine art by the likes of George Stubbs and Joshua Reynolds and, of course, ceramics. The basis of the collection can be traced back to the founder, Josiah Wedgwood I, who, conscious of the experimental nature of the work he was undertaking, kept his trials and experiments for posterity.

When Jonathan Sanders visited the museum, he says that he was ‘Utterly bowled over by the quality and beauty of so much of the collection, which represents the best in English design and production over the past 250 years’.

He was particularly entranced by the Domestic Employment series of Jasperware, depicting young children going about their day to day life, typically engaged in ‘domestic employment’. The depictions are a beautiful and some might say a slightly romantic view of how ordinary children experienced life in the 1780s, from the point of view of the aristocrat, Lady Elizabeth Templetown.

“I couldn’t help but compare those scenes with the lives of my own children”, he says, “and was inspired to sculpt a collection of pieces of them going about their every day life today.”

The resulting pieces are a depiction, by a contemporary artist, of the domestic life of today’s English child and Nelson & Forbes are proud to have the opportunity to produce them by hand in England, just as Wedgwood have done for many generations.

This bronze casting is a perfect recreation of Jonathan Sanders'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, each one is an original and so will be very slightly different to the last.

‘The Wedgwood Museum’ is a trade mark belonging to the Wedgwood Museum Trust Limited.

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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Reviews

Customer Reviews 8 item(s)

Lying Girl

Overall Satisfaction

It's beautiful. Purchased as Xmas gift for the wife. She loves it and has it placed near her chair so she see's it all the time.

Review by Gary / (Posted on 22/01/2019)

A present for my husband's birthday and he is so happy with it

Overall Satisfaction

Thank you Debbie.
I think your service is excellent. I received the large lying girl yesterday and it is lovely. It was a present for my husband's birthday and he is so happy with it.
Our daughter is away at the moment travelling in Australia and your sculpture reminds us so much of her.
Review by Mrs. I.V / (Posted on 16/03/2018)

Thank you

Overall Satisfaction

Thank you so much for your extremely prompt service. I am absolutely delighted with my Lying Girl.
Review by P.B. / (Posted on 02/02/2017)

Extremely Pleased

Overall Satisfaction

Over the past couple of weeks’ or so you have kindly despatched to me six delightful bronze sculptures, three from each of the above sculptors. I am extremely pleased with all six items and am very grateful to you for your very prompt and professional service.

If either Sue Maclaurin or Jonathan Sanders produce any further large pieces in the future, I was wondering if you would be kind enough to let me know as I would like to continue to add to my collection over the course of time. Thank you.

Many thanks, again, for your outstanding service over the past couple of weeks, which is greatly appreciated. Review by A.P. / (Posted on 30/01/2017)

Very Impressed

Overall Satisfaction

Just a quick note to say my two ‘Girls’ have just arrived. I am delighted with her (the other is a present – shame!) and we are getting to know one another this morning! I was very impressed too with the swift delivery and excellent service the courier provided, keeping the recipient up-to-date with delivery information. So, many thanks and I can see myself browsing the catalogue and ordering again in the future. Review by M.G. / (Posted on 30/01/2017)

She is beautiful

Overall Satisfaction

Hi Deborah,
Received the "Large girl lying down" this AM. She is beautiful. So glad our son-in-law came along to see it - Jill, our daughter will absolutely love her.
Thank you. Review by H.W. / (Posted on 30/01/2017)

Greatly admired

Overall Satisfaction

Just to let you know my husband was absolutely delighted with the Lying Girl for his birthday, and is very much looking forward to receiving the Lying Boy later this year.
Thank you so much for all your help on this and if you could also thank Jonathan Sanders, the design and workmanship has been widely admired by friends over the new year period. The fact we have 2 children who love to read means that they have a real sentimental meaning to us as well.
I look forward to hearing from you later this year. Review by C. / (Posted on 30/01/2017)

100% customer satusfaction

Overall Satisfaction

I ordered 2 statues similar size and both of the girls range. They arrived beautifully boxed and very well protected. They are absolutely beautiful and I'm sure I will be ordering more. Review by pauline / (Posted on 28/01/2017)