Life-size and larger-than-life sculpture brings together artistry, engineering and highly specialised foundry work. A successful casting must preserve the character and detail of the artist's original sculpture while creating a finished bronze capable of enduring in the public realm for generations.

At The Falconer Foundry, we cast monumental sculpture for artists, municipalities, institutions and organisations across South Africa. Many of the works shown here were created by independent sculptors who entrusted their original sculptures to our foundry for moulding, casting, finishing and preparation for installation.

Our role is not to reinterpret their work, but to translate it faithfully into bronze.

Casting at Monumental Scale

Large figurative sculpture presents challenges that are very different from those encountered when casting smaller works.

A life-size figure cannot usually be cast as a single piece. The original sculpture is carefully divided and moulded before individual waxes are produced and prepared for the lost-wax casting process.

The resulting bronze sections are welded back together, with each join chased by hand until the figure once again reads as a continuous form.

Throughout this process, the artist's original surface is paramount. Tool marks, textures, facial features, folds of fabric and subtle modelling all need to survive the transition from the original sculpture into bronze.

The objective is simple: when the artist sees the finished casting, it should still feel entirely like their work.

Working with Sculptors

A significant part of our foundry practice involves casting work created by other artists.

We understand that handing over an original sculpture requires trust. The foundry process should enhance the permanence of the work without losing the qualities that made the original compelling.

Artists can bring completed sculptures to us for moulding and casting, or involve us earlier in the process where technical input around scale, sectioning, bronze thickness, structural support or installation may be useful.

We work collaboratively throughout, keeping the sculptor's creative intent at the centre of the process.

Municipal & Institutional Projects

Monuments are frequently commissioned by municipalities, heritage organisations, educational institutions and other public bodies to commemorate individuals, histories and significant events.

These projects bring practical considerations alongside the artistic ones.

Durability, structural integrity, public safety, transport, site access, mounting and long-term exposure to the elements all need to be considered when preparing a sculpture for permanent public installation.

Our experience in both bronze casting and large-scale fabrication allows us to approach a monument not simply as a casting, but as an artwork that ultimately needs to leave the foundry and function successfully in its intended setting.

From the Artist's Studio to the Public Realm

A monumental bronze may begin as clay in an artist's studio, but bringing it into the public realm requires many different hands and skills.

Our role is to make that transition possible.

Through mould-making, lost-wax casting, welding, chasing, patination and technical preparation, we transform the artist's original into a permanent bronze while remaining faithful to the sculpture entrusted to us.

Looking for a foundry to cast a monumental sculpture?
The Falconer Foundry works with sculptors, municipalities, institutions and commissioning bodies to cast life-size and large-scale sculpture in bronze, from mould-making through to finishing and preparation for installation.

Sacred & Symbolic Sculpture

Our work for a Hindu temple on KwaZulu-Natal’s North Coast demonstrates another aspect of monumental casting and fabrication: the creation of large-scale sacred and symbolic objects that form an integral part of the architecture.

The project has encompassed an unusually diverse collection of sculptural elements. These include a two-metre-high Nataraja, full-scale trishul, dhara patra, sculptural snakes positioned across the temple roof, mounted skulls and custom lotus burglar guards.

Some elements are monumental sculptures in their own right, while others blur the distinction between sculpture, symbolism and architectural detail. Together, they demonstrate the breadth of skills required for a project of this nature — from mould-making and bronze casting to metal fabrication, structural problem-solving, finishing and installation.

Working on sacred sculpture also brings a particular responsibility. Proportion, iconography and symbolic details have meaning, and these need to be respected throughout the making process. Our role is to combine that fidelity with the practical expertise required to translate complex forms into durable, permanent objects.

The temple project is an example of what becomes possible when foundry skills extend beyond conventional bronze casting. Whether creating a two-metre figurative sculpture, an object intended for ritual use or a functional security element transformed into a field of lotus flowers, the challenge remains the same: to find the right materials and processes to realise an ambitious idea at architectural scale.