Creation of a bull statue

We're delighted to share with you the extraordinary process of making a cast-iron animal statue, an art form that skilfully combines 19th-century artistic creativity with GHM’s technical expertise from the 21st century.” Ghm of the 21st century.

Design and modeling - a crucial step in bringing the artist's vision to life.

It all starts with a creative idea. Here, the talented Isidore Bonheur designed two bull statues in 1865, placed at the entrance to Georges Brassens Park in Paris to mark the entrance to the Vaugirard abattoirs. In our case, the original was scanned on site by one of our technical teams.

3D printing of the model

It's a painstaking process, and every detail counts, since this model will serve as the basis for the final cast. Hours of printing, piece by piece, to assemble a 1:1 scale model.

Mould creation

Once the model has been completed and approved, the sand mold is made from the model's imprint. Two 1/2 molds, once closed, will create a faithful replica of the original statue. It took 3 weeks of work to complete this task, which required a great deal of expertise to ensure the rendering of every detail of the statue.

Metal casting

Cast iron, an alloy of iron and carbon, is heated to a high temperature and poured into the prepared mold. The liquid metal carefully fills the mold cavity, around a core to obtain a hollow part, taking the exact shape of the initial 3D printing model.
Did you know? A percentage of recycled materials is incorporated into this molten alloy. Cast iron is durable!

Cooling and mould removal

After allowing the metal to solidify, the outer mold is removed, revealing the raw cast-iron statue. At this stage, the piece will show imperfections and burrs, which will be corrected during "deburring".
Did you know? The process of extracting the molded part is called decoring.

Deburring and finishing

The journeymen come in to fine-tune the details, eliminate defects and polish the surface of the cast-iron statue. This requires great skill and precision to achieve the desired artistic quality.
A protective metal coating is applied to the statue in preparation for the final painting phase.

Proudly made in Haute-Marne, the cast-iron statue comes to life as a captivating, enduring piece of art.

Feel free to share your comments and explore further the world of sculptural art and ornamental casting, the values of which have been upheld by GHM since 1837.