Bronze

The bronze is a brass alloy (70 to 90 %) and of tin (30 to 10 %), it is a material the natural qualities of which made it particularly capable to artistic work and the shaping of which requires either the hammering, or the cast iron. Bronze has never ceased to stimulate artists' imagination and it is hardly sculptor who hadn't the irresistible temptation to experiment it, whatever the period, movement or style to which it belongs.

From Antiquity to contemporary time, art history reserves to bronze a leading place. If the basic metal is copper, other metals such as zinc, lead, iron or phosphor can enter its composition according to the sought plastic qualities. Two processes enable the shaping of bronze: cast iron and hammering. Cast iron can be hollow or full and there are two main cast iron techniques: cast iron with lost wax and cast iron with sand. Whatever the used technique, most of the time, it is necessary to rework it under cold conditions, chasing and patina in particular.