Bronze Monuments
Monumental Sculptures at Firebird Bronze
Bronze sculpture artists, Rip and Alison Caswell, have crafted an incredible range of bronze monuments. Authorities in sculpting both the human form and animals, their talents lie in being able to capture emotion. They have a passion for creating lifelike bronze monuments of their subjects. Their monumental sculptures can become the focal point of any public space. These stunning artworks can also immortalize a dignitary or loved one.
Past commissions include several unique statues of Christ, along with University Mascots. As sculptors for National Geographic, they have crafted some stunning wildlife monuments. One of their most poignant pieces is their 9/11 Memorial Bronze Sculpture. This artwork is on display at the Pentagon in Washington DC. You can browse their ‘bronze monuments’ range at Caswell Sculpture.
If you are looking for a bronze memorial, then you may wish to consider commissioning a unique bronze monument. Using the skills of the Firebird Bronze team, you can have a monument designed and cast on site. Despite their enormous size, they still create these bronze monuments using the lost wax process. The caster will cut the clay sculpture into sections before the creation of the molds. The artist will then reassemble each bronze monument component later in the process.
If you would like to learn more about large-scale artworks, please visit our Case Studies page. Here you can follow the journey of several bronze monuments, including images from throughout the process. Visiting our Testimonials page can also give you an insight into other artworks created at the Firebird Bronze foundry.
Bronze Art of the Future
You will find plenty of references to our love for traditional bronze casting on our website. Although we honor the established practice of lost wax casting, we can also offer a more modern service using the advances of 3D modeling technology. This allows for a new level of precision in the design process and also gives life to ideas that might be little more than an initial concept. Firebird 3D exists to integrate technology into sculpture, offering the ability to expand an artist’s body of work with ease.
You can learn more about Firebird 3D’s sculpting, scanning, and printing services in this short video from Chad Caswell:
At Firebird Bronze we are adding in these innovations in our bronze art foundry to keep the field of bronze art at its prime. Many artists are becoming curious about new technologies and they’re now beginning to understand the advantages that computer-aided design and sculpting software have to offer. The flexibility our 3D services offer is limitless. Will you be the one to commission the next magnificent bronze monument?
Bronze Monuments for Foundry Clients
The Caswells and their skilled team have had the pleasure of working with some truly gifted artists. Between them, they have crafted some exceptional bronze monuments.
Martin Luther King by James Warren
Standing at 14 feet tall, this monumental sculpture of Martin Luther King is the largest bronze statue of Dr King in the world. This monumental artwork was installed at the new Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Justice Building in Newark, New Jersey, in June 2021. The Firebird Bronze team was honored to work with sculptor Jay Warren to cast this special monumental sculpture.
Life Size Whale by Robert Wyland
The opportunity to work with marine artist Robert Wyland to enlarge and cast in bronze the 2nd of his 100 monuments was thrilling for the Firebird Bronze team. It took the talented crew at Firebird Bronze over a year to bring this lifesize orca whale to life!
‘Desert Splendor’ (Big Horns) by Lorenzo Ghiglieri
Prolific bronze sculptor Lorenzo Ghiglieri chose Firebird Bronze to cast this incredibly detailed monument of two rams on climbing rocks. The sculpture measures 7’1″ high x 4’9″ wide x 3′ deep.
Life Size Whitetail Deer, Grizzly Bear, and Elk by Bud Burger
Bud Burger has the skill to capture his outdoor memories through his art form of choice, bronze sculpting. Bud is viewed here with recent life size castings of “Swamp Buck”, “Spring Grizz”, and “Upwind Bull”. Working in close partnership with Firebird Bronze, the artist is able to craft detailed wildlife sculptures for his clients.
Major Bronze Monuments of History
People all over the world treasure monumental bronze art. Throughout history, there has been a fascination with creating monumental sculptures to celebrate people, culture, beliefs, and achievements. You might enjoy learning about some of the most impressive bronze monuments ever created. From military monuments to commemorative pieces, these bronze tributes tower over history as excellent examples of this coveted medium.
The Riace Bronzes
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These two statues from circa 450 BCE also go by the name of the “Riace Warriors”. Considered by many experts as some of the best-preserved examples of Greek bronze work, these statues live today in the Museo Nazionale della Magna Grecia in Reggio Calabria, Italy. Discovered on the ocean floor off the coast of Italy in the early 1970s, the Riace Bronzes reveal the incredible level of detail that Greek artists could capture using the lost wax casting technique
Liberty Bell
The Liberty Bell is a true monument to American history. Some originally knew it as the State House Bell. The Pennsylvania Provincial Assembly commissioned this iconic symbol of American independence in the eighteenth century to hang in the lofty steeple of their building in Philadelphia. The Whitechapel Bell Foundry in London originally cast the bell, and it arrived in Philadelphia in August 1752. It’s famous for the inspirational phrase inscribed upon it from the bible. “Proclaim LIBERTY Throughout all the Land unto all the Inhabitants Thereof”
The Thinker
Recognized the world over, Auguste Rodin’s The Thinker is an iconic bronze life-size statue. The artist cast the original bronze sculpture in 1904 and it depicts a nude man deep in thought. As such, people often use this monumental bronze as a symbol to represent psychology. You can locate the original statue at the Musée Rodin, in Paris, although there are at least 28 life-size castings globally.
The Little Mermaid
The Little Mermaid is one of the most iconic vistas in Denmark’s capital city of Copenhagen. Created by Edvard Eriksen in 1913, it serves as a monument to the iconic tale penned by Hans Christian Andersen. At a diminutive four feet tall and a weight of roughly 280 pounds, Eriksen’s sculpture continues to be one of the most popular and symbolic bronze sculptures in all of Scandinavia.
Marine Corps War Memorial
The United States Marine Corps War Memorial became a feature in Virginia’s Arlington Ridge Park in 1954. Designed by sculptor Felix de Weldon, it commemorates all fallen Marines since the American Revolution. The inspiration for this beautifully crafted monument came from a 1940s photograph of a group of Marines raising the American flag on Iwo Jima’s Mount Suribachi as a symbol of American triumph.
Each figure in the monument soars to a colossal 32 feet in height and required the artist to devote three years to developing models. Given the sheer size, he broke these models into component parts for the casting process. He then shipped these individual castings to Virginia for reassembly.
The Statue of Unity
The Statue of Unity is the world’s largest bronze monument. The monumental sculpture is a tribute to Vallabhbhai Patel, an Indian state leader and independence activist known for uniting hundreds of Indian states during the country’s independence fight in 1947. This colossal figure stands 597 feet tall overlooking the Narmada River in Gujarat, India. 1,700 tonnes of bronze plates and 1,850 tonnes of bronze cladding make up the outer facade. These plates were cast in China as there were no facilities large enough for such sizable casting in India.
