Send us a photograph, a height, where the piece will stand and any deadline. We can usually make it.
A nine-foot rearing tiger with three cubs at the base. It started as a dimensioned drawing, like every commission.
What we need from you
A reference. A photograph, a sketch on paper, a logo, a drawing your child did. It does not need to be good. It needs to show the pose and the character you want, because those two cannot be changed once the piece is built.
A height. Most of the rest follows from it: footprint, weight, freight class and the size of any footing. Tell us the width the piece can occupy as well. A rearing animal and a walking one of the same height need very different floors.
Where it will stand. Indoors or out, sun or shade, public or private, permanent or for one event. This decides the covering and the mounting. A wrong answer here is expensive to fix in a way a wrong drawing never is.
If you have a deadline, say it first. A deadline changes what is possible more than the budget does.
How one is built
The drawing. Your reference becomes a dimensioned drawing, and the proportions are settled there, where changes are free. Check the height, the width and the pose against what you sent. A tail that is too short on the drawing is a conversation. A tail that is too short in steel is a rebuild.
The steel. A welded armature, then galvanised or powder-coated. The finish is there to stop rust, because an untreated frame rusts from inside the joints where nobody can inspect it. The frame has to outlive several coverings.
The covering. Moss, turf, preserved foliage or artificial. It is chosen for where the piece will stand rather than for how it looks in the workshop.
Moss reads softest and wants watering. Artificial and turf are the two that hold up in open weather, and on artificial the life is set by the UV rating rather than by the seasons. Preserved is for interiors only, because it takes no water and weather has nothing to work with.
Delivery and install. By freight, braced on a pallet or crated. Large pieces anchor to a footing, and public installations use anti-vandal fasteners. Read what freight delivery involves before you order.
Quoted. Nine feet tall, with three cubs at the base.
Quoted. Eleven feet, in mixed foliage colours.
Quoted. A refurbishment. The frame usually outlives its covering.
What scale changes
Commissions run from a tabletop piece to forty feet. The jumps between sizes are not linear.
Under about three feet is a shelf-and-garden object. It ships by parcel or light freight, and it free-stands.
Three to nine feet is where most commissions land. A nine-foot rearing tiger with cubs at its base sits at the top of this band, and that is the size that makes a space somewhere people photograph. This band wants a footing and a delivery plan.
Above nine feet, expect a route survey, a footing design, a lift on site, and sometimes a conversation with whoever owns the pavement. An eleven-foot owl needs this planning. Forty feet is the tallest scale we work to, and it is the figure the custom category has carried for years.
Multi-figure groups are a category of their own: a family of raccoons, a lemur group, a herring four feet by twelve. A group is more work than the sum of its animals, because the pieces have to relate to each other. That relationship is set at the drawing stage.
What it costs, and how long it takes
Every commission is quoted on its own, because two nine-foot animals can differ by a factor of three. The price depends on surface area, the complexity of the pose, the number of fiddly extremities, and the covering.
A commission usually costs somewhere between the cheapest and the most expensive sculpture you might otherwise buy. Send a height and a reference and you get one figure back rather than a range.
Ask for a current lead time. Commissions take weeks rather than days, and the queue affects the wait as much as the piece does.
For a December display, talk to us in late summer. The Christmas queue is usually full by late autumn.
Refurbishment is often the better answer
Re-covering a tired sculpture usually costs a fraction of replacing it. Steel outlives its covering by a wide margin, so the frame under a piece that looks finished is usually still sound.
Send a photograph of what you have. We will tell you honestly whether it is worth saving, including when it is not.
Where these end up
Hotels, resorts, town centres, trade shows, brand activations, public gardens and private ones. The proof is on the portfolio. The sector pages set out how each works: hotels and resorts, events and brand activations, cities and public art.
The full commission range is on the custom category. Treat it as a starting grid rather than a limit.
Questions we get asked
What do you need from me to start?
A reference photograph or sketch, a height, and where the piece will stand. The reference does not need to be good. It needs to show the pose and the character.
How much does a commission cost?
Every commission is quoted, because two animals of the same height can differ threefold depending on the pose, the extremities and the covering. Send a height and a reference and you get one figure back rather than a range.
How long does it take?
Weeks rather than days. The queue when you ask matters as much as the piece, so request a current lead time rather than assuming one. For a December display, start in late summer, because the seasonal queue is usually full by late autumn.
Can you repair a piece I already own?
Usually. Steel outlives its covering by a wide margin, so a tired sculpture is often a re-cover rather than a replacement. Send a photograph and we will say honestly whether it is worth saving.
How big can you go?
Forty feet is the tallest so far. Above about nine feet a commission becomes a project, with a route survey, a footing and a lift on site.
