How it works · The Brief
Stage One — Tell Us What You Are Imagining
Send a photograph, a reference, or a description. This stage costs nothing and it is where we tell you the truth about what is possible.
Send a reference, a rough idea, or a photograph. We will tell you honestly whether it will cast well.
The whole argument, in one line
One of one. The design retires after casting.
1 of 1
No mould survives to make a second
Approved
You sign off before any metal is poured
.999
Fine silver, hand-poured in the USA
.999
Fine silver. One grade, every piece, every size
1 of 1
The design is retired after casting. Genuinely
USA
Hand-poured here, not imported and rebadged
COA
Certificate of authenticity with every piece
Most briefs are too vague or too specific
Either "something for my dad, he likes fishing" — which is not enough to sculpt — or a fully specified idea that will not survive casting. The useful brief sits between: a clear subject, a sense of the feeling, and flexibility on the details that physics will decide.
What helps most
- Photographs, plural, from different angles.
- What the piece is for — a memorial, a gift, an award, a milestone.
- Roughly what size you are imagining, which drives the price.
- A deadline if there is one, honestly stated.
- Anything that must be included, and anything you are relaxed about.
What makes a brief good, and what makes one hard
The best briefs are usually the least polished. A handful of ordinary photographs from several angles tells a sculptor far more than one carefully composed portrait, because sculpture needs the parts a good photograph hides — the back of the head, the set of the shoulders, how something sits when nobody is arranging it. People apologize for sending casual snapshots. Those are the useful ones.
What genuinely makes a brief hard is a single image, or a description without images at all. From one angle a sculptor is inventing the other three, and the result may be beautiful and still not look like the subject to the person who knows them. If that is all that exists — and for a pet that has died, it often is — say so at the start. It changes what is realistic rather than making it impossible, and knowing that early is better than discovering it at approval.
How we handle it
- 01We look at what you send and respond honestly.
- 02We tell you if the references are not sufficient.
- 03We give a size and price range before you commit to anything.
- 04We flag any castability issue at this stage rather than later.
Tell us the deadline early. Custom work takes time, and a piece that has to exist by a specific date changes what is realistic. We would rather tell you no at the brief than miss it.
Said plainly
Where we stop
If the date is not achievable, we will say so at this stage. A missed anniversary is worse than a piece you did not commission.
FAQ
Common questions
- Does the brief cost anything?
- No. Send the idea and we will tell you honestly what is possible.
- What if I do not know what I want?
- That is normal. Tell us who it is for and why, and we will help shape it.
- How long does the whole thing take?
- Longer than most people expect. Tell us the deadline at the brief and we will be straight with you.
- Do you need the exact size?
- A rough idea is enough. Size drives price more than complexity does.
Commissions
Pets
By a distance the most commissioned thing we make, and usually the one that means the most. Often it is a memorial, which changes how carefully we handle every part of it.
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Mascots & Logos
Companies commission these for milestones, retirements and the kind of award nobody throws away. A solid silver version of your own mascot is difficult to put in a drawer.
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Cars & Vehicles
Not a generic model of that make. Your actual car, with your plate, your wheels and the modification you spent a summer arguing with.
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Characters & Original Art
People ask us for characters constantly. Here is exactly what we do, and what we do not, without the vagueness this subject usually attracts.
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Buildings & Places
A first house, a family business, a church, a stadium, a boat house. Architecture casts unusually well because it is mostly flat planes and hard edges.
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Hands & Impressions
Almost always for a new baby, and sometimes for a memorial. Either way the appeal is exactness — this is the hand at the size it actually was, in a metal that does not change.
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More how it works
The Sculpt
We build it digitally first and show it to you. Nothing is cast until you have seen it and said yes.
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Casting & Finishing
The sculpt becomes a mould, the mould becomes metal, and then a person finishes it by hand. That last part is why no two castings are identical.
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Delivery & Certificate
It is heavy, it is valuable, and it ships insured. The certificate travels with it.
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Next step
Run it both ways before you decide.
No credit check and no obligation. Tell us what you hold and what the money is for, and if selling is the better answer for your situation you will be told that first.