Introducing The City Gent. The first sculpture in The Timeless Gentlemen Collection of lost-wax cast skulls at one third of life size, available in bronze or silver.
This City Gent is cast in Sterling Silver with Bronze Bowler Hat. A numbered limited edition of 33 sculptures in Hallmarked Sterling Silver.
The skull motif has been used by cultures around the world for centuries. Whether to commemorate the dead, confront our own mortality or celebrate life, the human skull is a powerful and evocative symbol.
The Timeless Gentlemen Collection plays on this theme with a nod to the vanity of the material world. Like many objects worn to convey wealth and status, the production of these hats came at considerable human cost. Poisoning from the mercury used to process the felt was an occupational hazard so widespread that the expression ‘mad as a hatter’ came into being long before Lewis Carroll used it in his work ‘Alice in Wonderland’. As a style, the bowler hat was worn by both king and commoner, and as such, it is the perfect memento mori, a reminder that death comes to all.
The skull is unique totally hand-made in wax and then lost-wax cast into silver. Scaled down from a real human skull with exceptional anatomical accuracy and detail. As with our full sized skulls, we have made a small pair of sculpted sockets to lock the mandible (lower jaw) to the skull – the sockets are inconspicuous and allow the jaw to be fixed to the skull yet still articulate. After casting the skull is carefully finished by hand before being painstakingly polished/patinated accordingly.
The Bowler Hat is also lost-wax cast in bronze with a blackened or patinated finish, there are four standard patina options to choose from. The hat can be plain but is also available with hand carved suture detail representing the bone plates of a skull.
To see the bowler hat with suture plate carving select the darkened bronze option with suture detail.
Our skulls are strong and powerful sculptures which possess a timeless beauty in their purity.
When not available from stock please allow 6 to 8 weeks for delivery.
3 1/2″ tall x 3 3/4″ deep x 3 1/2″ wide.
Each skull is hand made and weights will vary. They are typically around 1 lb 10 oz.
