Creation of Your Miniature Sculpture
Creation of each silver or bronze sculpture involves a combination of ancient and modern technology: fire, water, and electrons. The process takes many hours of hand and machine work, with the artist involved at every stage.
Scanning and Machine Printing
The miniature version of Christiane’s original wood sculpture begins with a 3D scanner that captures in 360 degrees all the details of the artwork. The computer image is then compared with the original to ensure that its rough and smooth surfaces reflect the character of the original piece. Any imperfections are cleaned and corrected.
In the next step, the 3D computer image is used to produce a copy to scale of the sculpture in an industrial resin. The copy is compared with the original and any imperfections corrected. The resin copy is then used to produce a silicon mould.
Lost Wax Casting
Special casting wax is poured into the silicon mould, and the resulting hard wax copy cleaned and polished to match the original. Next, the model is surrounded by a plaster cast, which is baked in an oven until all the wax melts. The hardened plaster then has the impression of the model inside, and the plaster mould is kept at a temperature of about 480 degrees C.
The metal is heated in a crucible until it is liquid, to between 800 to 1000 degrees C., and then poured into the hot plaster mould. The filled mould then is plunged into water, and the plaster swirled away to reveal the raw metal sculpture inside.
The sculpture is finished by hand filing, with fine machine buffers and hand polishing.
The last touches are a hallmark stamp on the sterling silver, the initials of the artist, and the limited edition series number.
Only 15 of each silver miniature and 30 of each bronze, are created.
The certificate of authenticity is part of a booklet that will come with the miniature.