Five times awarded 5 Gold Stars at RHS Chelsea
5,000 Years in the Making
Why Hot Cast Bronze Sculptures Last
The resilience and beauty of bronze
Bronze has been a vessel for human stories for thousands of years. Shaped by artists’ hands, it endures where other materials break or fade, holding its form as time moves around it.
Take the Artemision Bronze, a Greek sculpture created around 460 BCE and discovered in 1926 by fishermen off the coast of Cape Artemision in northern Euboea. After more than two millennia beneath the sea, it rose almost untouched – its figure still strong, its presence undimmed. Few materials show resilience so plainly as bronze.
The Lost-Wax Tradition
In the workshop, we use the same ancient method to create our own bronze sculptures. Each piece starts as a clay model, from which we make a mould. That mould produces a wax, and it’s here we refine the smallest details: the fur on a jacket, the tilt of a hat, the expression that gives a character life.
This wax stage is unique to hot-cast bronze. It allows a level of detail that cold-cast resin simply cannot match. Once finished, the wax is encased in a ceramic shell, melted away, and replaced with molten bronze. What was once fragile becomes solid, ready to last for generations.
Why Bronze Endures Outdoors
People often ask how bronze behaves outside. With only occasional care, it lasts extremely well. It doesn’t rust or flake, but slowly develops a patina that protects it and adds character. Many collectors love this gentle change – though it’s always a matter of preference!
Bringing Colour to Bronze
Something that sets our work apart is the use of coloured patinas. Traditional bronzes often stay in browns and greens, but colour can be central to a character’s identity. We heat the bronze and apply different acid and alkali solutions, which react to create colour within the metal itself. Not every foundry takes this path, but for us, it matters.
Think of Peter Rabbit without his blue jacket, or Winnie the Pooh without his ochre tones – the colours are part of who they are. A piece of their identity which makes them iconic; as instantly recognisable on a page as they are in a garden.
Keeping the Magic of Stories Alive
A hot-cast bronze sculpture is crafted to last – not just for today, but for generations to come; the legacies of well-loved stories that are now rooted deeply in contemporary culture and continue to resonate. At Robert James Workshop, we’re proud to add our own work to a tradition of craftsmanship that has already spanned over 5,000 years.
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