How a commission works · Size & Metal
Size Is the Cost
The weight of metal is the largest single input, so size and cost are almost the same decision.
Four or five good photographs is enough to tell you whether this will work, what it costs, and how long it takes.
.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
Volume rises faster than height
Doubling the height of a piece does not double the metal in it — it multiplies it several times over, because volume grows in three dimensions. A piece twice as tall is far more than twice the price, and that surprises almost everybody the first time it is explained.
Weight also affects how a piece feels rather than only what it costs. Solid silver has a density that is immediately apparent in the hand, and it is a large part of why people choose the material. A piece made thin to reach a price gives that up, which is why we would rather make something smaller.
What decides the number
- Height, which drives volume and therefore metal weight.
- How solid the form is — an open pose uses less than a compact one.
- Silver or gold, which are very different orders of cost.
- Complexity of the design and hand finishing required.
- The base, if there is one.
Why volume rises faster than height
Doubling the height of a piece roughly multiplies its volume eightfold, because it gets wider and deeper as well as taller. The metal is the dominant cost, so the price follows the volume rather than the height.
This is the single most common surprise in a commission conversation, and it is why a rough budget at the outset is more useful than a size. We can work from either, and the budget gets there faster.
How we handle it
- 01Recommend a size that suits the subject and the budget.
- 02Explain what the metal weight is doing to the price.
- 03Quote before any design work begins.
- 04Never quietly reduce weight to hit a number.
Tell us your budget at the start. It is the fastest route to a piece you are happy with, because we design to it directly rather than showing you something you then have to shrink.
Said plainly
Where we stop
We will not thin a piece down to meet a price. A hollow, light object in solid silver feels wrong in the hand and it undoes the reason for choosing the material at all.
FAQ
Common questions
- Why is a bigger piece so much more?
- Volume grows in three dimensions. Twice the height is far more than twice the metal.
- Silver or gold?
- Very different orders of cost. Most commissions are .999 fine silver.
- Should we tell you our budget?
- Yes, at the start. We design to it directly.
- Can you make it lighter to save money?
- We will not thin it down. A hollow-feeling piece defeats the point of solid silver.
The animals
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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More how a commission works
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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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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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.