Tuatara

The tuatara is a very ancient reptile found only in New Zealand. Genetically it dates back more than 200 million years to the time of the dinosaurs... more

by Brian Moore

Buy the Original Sculpture

Price

$2,450

Dimensions

9.000 x 20.000 x 4.000 inches

Title

Tuatara

Artist

Brian Moore

Medium

Sculpture - Bronze Sculpture

Description

The tuatara is a very ancient reptile found only in New Zealand. Genetically it dates back more than 200 million years to the time of the dinosaurs and, of the four living orders of all known reptiles, the tuatara holds an entire order on its own.

Number 1 of the bronze Tuatara edition was presented to HRH Prince Philip in his capacity as Patron of the World Wildlife Fund International. While on holiday in the UK, friends of mine went to visit Windsor Castle and came back with video footage showing the Tuatara on display in the Queen’s Gifts and Royal Carriages Exhibition.

To get all the information needed to do the sculpture, my wife Judith and I went to the Auckland Zoo where a very obliging keeper of the tuatara, Mick Sibley, took a young one out of its enclosure for us so it could be photographed from all angles. This same tuatara had recently been handed in to the zoo after being found somewhere on the streets in Otahuhu, Auckland. Presumably it had escaped its captors who were intending to sell it on the black market. Further help came from Dr. Brian Gill at the Auckland Museum. For several minutes I stood over a tray of evaporating formaldehyde with a large tuatara specimen laid out upside down for me to record all the underside detail.

The original sculpture itself took hundreds of hours of exacting detailed work and was fashioned from a black wax. Once it was completed, the fine art foundry took over and from the wax sculpture made a master mould in silicone rubber surrounded by a supporting plaster casing. A new wax casting is taken from the master mould every time a bronze Tuatara is made. A second mould, of heat-proof ceramic, is made over the wax casting and the wax is burned out before molten bronze is poured in at around 1300 degrees Celsius. This process, known as "Lost Wax", is based on ancient technology dating back to the Egyptian era.

To quote a collector:

I recently purchased two small bronzes from an artist in Australia. This got me looking for bronzes in your neck of the woods and I came across yourself and the tuatara bronze. After looking at hundreds of artists and bronzes in Europe and North America, all sculpted and cast to a very high standard, for me your bronze was far superior in detail and the subject matter is unique. Many thanks, Garry. (Glasgow)


Dimensions: approximately 510mm x 230mm x 100mm (20" x 9" x 4")

The edition is limited to 250 numbered and signed castings.

Each bronze Tuatara weighs around four kilograms and comes in its own presentation crate. The sculpture is life-sized for an adult tuatara and is best displayed on a shelf, a coffee table, or even the right spot on the floor. A small black leather pad is fixed to the underside of each foot to protect furniture.

Bronzes are generally cast to order and take between four and six weeks to complete.

Uploaded

November 22nd, 2012