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THE LOST ART OF SCULPTING IN MARBLE
MARBLE THE MOST BEAUTIFUL OF STONES
Sculpting in marble is virtually a lost art in the Western World, yet the sculpting of a marble statue is probably among the most desirable and purest form of art….outliving any other. It is indeed the art of immortality.
Modern western society with its high cash values has made it virtually impossible for artists to sculpt marble statues from the raw marble block, even if they still had the skills. And so those skills have in the main been lost.
Yet homes, great or modest, and corporate premises can be defined and enhanced by such memorable works of art. They are now available, created uniquely for the individual customer.
Stone Icons offers marble statuary, that is marble busts and marble statues, and marble reliefs, carved in exactly the same way as the great works of Michelangelo and Canova, Thorvaldsen and Rodin. Our marble is handcarved, not in the increasingly rare Carrara marble often used by these artists of the past, but in equally pure white marble from the Fangshan quarries of northern China, used for the sculptures and structures of the palaces of the Great Emperors.
We recreate the most significant marbles of the past, and we feel as if we are not so much copying, but extending the studios of those great artists of the 16th,17th, 18th and 19th centuries with the integrity and truth which went into the creation of their sculptures.
The originals can never be owned, because they are priceless icons in the world’s great museums.
But Stone Icons makes it possible for these works of art to be in the possession of a family or corporation for a future which we cannot anticipate or probably imagine. But we know that they will remain inviolate and unchanged for hundreds of years. Why? Because they are in exactly the same form, and produced by the same time consuming methods of the chisel and hand polishing as in the studios of Michelangelo or the other greats.
THE ART OF THE IMPOSSIBLE
Stone Icons has set itself the goal of recreating, in perfect marble in white or many colours, or other valuable stone, the beautiful images which are at the core of the history of art.
Stone Icons choice of sculptures of the Greats is absolutely unique throughout the world ..…and we will work with clients who have specific requirements whether it be by size or material such as white, black or even green marble.
How do we achieve our goal of matching the original work without the help of casts from the original?
Firstly we research the original art held in museums in absolute detail.
Secondly we produce clay models equivalent in every detail to the original. This process is immensely time consuming as our specialists work towards perfection with the modeler.
We then identify the perfect block of marble which in the case of full sized or multiple figure statues might weigh several tonnes.
We then hew by hand from the raw marble, until the sculpture emerges to reprise the original work of art.
When the sculpture is considered as being as near perfect to the work of the piece in question, it is despatched to the buyer.
Stone Icons are currently working on their own original creations and soon these will become significant works of art in their own right.