I ran across this site after finding a business card in a box for a part I will be casting. Apparently they had previously cast it for the gentleman I am doing the work for now. Whats interesting about the site is that it includes a price sheet for their castings. ENJOY! http://www.max-cast.com/
In Kalona Iowa.... Amish country South of the Amana Colonies. Read Stephen Maxon's bio here. He has a sense of humor. http://www.max-cast.com/artists.php?action=view&id=3 Best, Kelly
Stephen Maxon is a very pleasant man to talk with. I visited his foundry a couple of times and he was gracious enough to show me around the place despite being pretty darn busy. He makes larger than life bronze castings and they look pretty awesome to me.
$126 bucks???? The size of a golfball?????? http://www.max-cast.com/catalogue.php?action=view&item_id=181
Yes. Starting from scratch he likely made $1.00 an hour or less.... Jason, keep in mind what your hourly wage is, then think of how many hours you had in your last casting, plus the materials. How much would it have costed to produce that casting now???
Oh I get it... I know all too well the hours to produce a piece. What I see here is the art work and mold is DONE! The method for spruing has long been figured out and they know exactly what it takes to poop these chickens out by the dozen. By all rights, this thing should be made in china. It's very simple, and requires next to no chasing. Now compare this chicken to this pair of candle holders I missed out on last weekend in NOLA. These came out of Anne Rice's home (yes the author) Asking price was $2800 They were sold about 6 months ago. I think these were around 80-100 years old. They were 16" tall. Compared to the chicken, these should be 20grand for the pair! I was totally a player at the asking price. I am finding the bronze market is in the shitter these days. People just aren't investing in these old pieces like they once did. As it goes, buy low, sell high! I'd like to enjoy some cool stuff everyday while I watch the market bounce back in 10 years. Imagine what it would cost to commission someone to knock these off from start to finish? 50grand? Now what if they already had the mold..... 20grand??? At $2800, these were a steal!
So your saying they should be made in china for 15.00 each rather than supporting artists and an art studio here in the US?? Now how do you expect it to bounce back in 10 years if you are farming it out art casting to China? Picture this, your out on vacation touring a bronze art studio looking at all the finished castings for sale. What is the average person more likely to take home? The $2800.00 candle stick holders you posted above or a small item like the chicken or the sea turtles for around $100.00?? Basically what I am getting at here is a matter of checks and balances. You may be able to sell one or two sets of those candle stick holders a year but it is more likely to sell 2-3 chickens a week. One last thing to keep in mind.... if I were to turn over the candle stick holders and see "India" on the back side, vs turning over the chicken and seeing "R Graham" Then which becomes more valuable??
All valid points David. But look closer at that list, some things are priced cheap and others are out in left field. I'm just glad I don't have to eek out a living doing this. That's a tough row to hoe.
You seriously miss the whole art aspect of things.. Where a Rembrandt may be worth 1.5 million, my drawing is worth...? Or lets say you did a sculpture and cast it, and that sculpture got world notoriety well at that point even your bp casting became much more valuable.. .
Never say never. You could still die a spectacular death like contracting the first VD from an alien species where your body literally explodes. And once people found out more about you and that you were into casting bronze and such all i have to do is prove that the bp was your work and by slitely embellishing the story with " It was his favorite casting to play with" Well you just never know.
