United States
Your Animal, Cast Once, Then the Design Is Retired
We are the anti-boring gift company and we joke about most things. Not this. A piece made from your photographs is cast one time, the design is retired afterwards, and you approve it before any metal is poured — because casting cannot be undone and a piece that does not look like them is a failure however well it is made.
Four or five good photographs is enough to tell you whether this will work, what it costs, and how long it takes.
The whole argument, in one line
Cast once, then the design is retired.
1 of 1
No mould survives to make a second
Approved
You sign off before any metal is poured
.999
Fine silver, hand-poured in the USA
.999
Fine silver, hand-poured, made in the USA
1 of 1
The design is retired after casting. Yours is the only one
2004
Casting solid metal since
Approved
You see and sign off the design before any metal is poured
The animals
The animals
Six animals, six different problems in metal. Each page says what we need and where the difficulty is.
Dogs
The most commissioned subject, and the one where people notice the smallest thing being wrong. A dog's owner knows that face better than they know most human ones.
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Cats
Cats are recognized by how they sit, curl and hold themselves far more than by facial detail — which changes what we need from your photographs.
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Horses
Horse people can read conformation at a glance, which makes this the least forgiving animal we cast and the one where accuracy matters most.
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Birds
Parrots, raptors and companion birds. Feathers look like fine detail and behave in cast metal like a trap.
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Small Pets
Rabbits, guinea pigs, ferrets, rats and hamsters. Frequently a child's first animal, and frequently the one that matters most in a household.
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Reptiles & Exotics
Snakes, lizards, tortoises and the rest. The one group where cast silver does something no other material does as well.
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How a commission works
How a commission works
Photographs, size, cost, timing — and the things we will not do.
The Photographs
The photographs are the whole brief. Everything about the finished piece comes from what we can see in them.
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Size & Metal
The weight of metal is the largest single input, so size and cost are almost the same decision.
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Turnaround
Four stages, and the one that varies most is the one you control.
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Memorial Pieces
Many of these are commissioned after an animal has died. It changes nothing about how the piece is made and quite a lot about how we handle the conversation.
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What We Will Not Do
Five things we decline, and the reasons. It is a short list and it is better read before you commission than discovered after.
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The difference
How a commission works
The one thing we do not joke about
We call ourselves the anti-boring gift company and we mean it everywhere except here. A piece made after a pet has died is not a novelty, and it does not get the irreverent treatment the rest of our work does.
One of one, and retired afterwards
The design is made for your animal and retired once it is cast. Nobody else receives the same piece, because there is no mould left to make another one. That is the whole reason to commission rather than buy.
You approve it before any metal is poured
You see the design and sign off on it first. Casting is irreversible, and a piece that does not look like your animal is a failure however well it is made — so the approval step is not a formality.
We will tell you if the photographs are not enough
A likeness comes from what we can see. If the photographs cannot support a good result, you will hear that before you pay, not after — because "close enough" is not close enough on this particular object.
Start here
Send us your photographs
Four or five is enough. Head-on, both profiles, a full body — plus whichever one you love.
You get an honest answer on whether it will work, what it costs, and how long it takes. Including when the photographs will not support a good result.
FAQ
Common questions
- How many photographs do you need?
- Four or five useful ones — head-on, both profiles, full body — plus whichever you love.
- What if we only have old photos?
- Send them. Older photographs are usable more often than people expect, and we will tell you honestly before you pay.
- Is it really one of one?
- Yes. The design is retired after casting and there is no mould to make another.
- Can you show markings or color?
- Only suggested in surface finish. Silver is one color, and a heavily marked animal loses that in metal.
- Can you incorporate ashes or fur?
- No. We cast solid silver statues and do not incorporate other materials.
- Do we see it before it is made?
- Yes, and you sign off on it. Nothing is cast without your written approval.
- Why does size change the price so much?
- Volume grows in three dimensions, so twice the height is far more than twice the metal.
- How long does it take?
- It depends on the piece, and the stage that varies most is approval — which is the stage worth taking time over.
Next step
Run it both ways before you decide.
No credit check and no obligation. Tell us what you hold and what the money is for, and if selling is the better answer for your situation you will be told that first.