Buddha Head 1999

How Does Bronze Differ From “Cold Cast” Bronze?

You may have heard bronze referred to as solid bronze sculpture, foundry cast bronze sculpture or hot cast bronze sculpture. All these are accurate, as they refer to metal that is melted at extremely high temperatures and then poured into a mould. The lost wax method of casting is a highly skilled, complex, time and labour intensive process. Every part of the process requires judgement and skill on behalf of the artisan that can only be gained through years of experience. This, combined with the cost of the raw material (copper and tin), gives rise to the price of a bronze sculpture.

You may also have heard of bronze resin sculpture or resin sculpture, also known as “cold cast bronze” or bonded bronze. This is actually made of polyester, epoxy or another resin poured into a mould and each one is identical.

Bronze powder may be mixed into the polyester or painted onto the surface to enable the plastic to achieve the appearance of bronze. No spruing or investment is required in order to cast a cold cast sculpture and so the process is much faster and less expensive than that required for bronze.

If a sculpture is lightweight, warm to the touch or can be scratched with a key (we suggest underneath if you’re going to try this!) it is more likely to be resin than bronze.