prices, lifesize figure

[Roy Tamboli]

I've been asked to do a lifesize bronze. It's been a while since I've done one, what is the ballpark price range these days?
thanks, Roy

[fritchie]

Roy - You may get numbers all over the map. I've heard figures here in New Orleans between about $15,000 down to under $10,000 just for the casting, and not including your own time, possible model time, studio costs, insurance, delivery , etc. I think people in other areas have mentioned figures both higher and lower than these.

[Roy Tamboli]

Thanks Fritchie- I need to give a total price, excluding only delivery and installation, to a client. What I'm curious about is national price range averages from figurative, bronze sculptors like,
10K to 25K
25K to 50K
50K to 75K
This would be a full figure without meticulous detail.
thanks, Roy

[Araich]

Try asking Bridgette, she'd be a good bet for a sensible answer...

http://www.sculpture.net/community/member.php?u=837

[sculptorsam]

I could be wrong, but didn't someone around here once mention that as a general rule, bronzes were priced at 3 times the casting/production costs? So that would put a life-size figure in the $30k-50k range using fritchie's estimates. Just throwing it out there...

[fused]

"It's been a while since I've done one"... what was your previous price?

I think you should start at your foundry -to get a working figure of production cost-
and then apply Sam's 3x formula to figure out a price range.

[fritchie]

I could be wrong, but didn't someone around here once mention that as a general rule, bronzes were priced at 3 times the casting/production costs? So that would put a life-size figure in the $30k-50k range using fritchie's estimates. Just throwing it out there...

I've heard numbers in that range, and also both higher and lower, for finished and installed lifesize works. I suspect a bit of horse trading may be a prime factor, depending on the source budget and the sculptor's reputation.

[Roy Tamboli]

thanks everyone, isn't it interesting and fun to be in such a completely unregulated marketplace

[ALH]

Just be very careful not to promise a price until you have a good notion of what your costs are on this particular situation. If no one is willing to meet the 'average' price for casting for instance it may end up coming out of your pocket. Estimates, guesses, and quotes are all mean different things. Foundries, like anyone, will be hesitant to quote on a design that isn't worked out, for good reason.

The bigger the project the bigger the risk.

Hope it works out for you.

[ALH]

...and be careful to communicate what is and is not included.

[Roy Tamboli]

Now I am really getting curious. Does anyone know of anyone who has sold a lifesize bronze figure in the last 3 years?

[ALH]

I don't know if you mean selling an off the shelf piece only or one commissioned beforehand. This one is life-size and was commissioned. Foundry cost would be roughly 18,000 U.S. / 14,000 Euros on the high side (mold included installation not). But I'm not sure that means much in your region.

The devil is always in the details, your Nelson with sword, fish, flapping cape and spurs will be more than a girl in a bathing suit arms akimbo. Changes or other difficulties can also add up. Do a sketch and call around for estimates.

hopeithelps

[JAZ]

I recently got an estimate over the phone from a glass company for a piece of tempered glass for a little table a friend commissioned. Based on that I worked out the details with the client. Then on Saturday I brought a schematic to the glass company that showed exactly what the estimate covered - no changes. But the price is different.
My mistake. I usually get everything in writing, but this was such a small, simple thing. I don't have a FAX machine at the studio, but I'm thinking of getting one since suppliers are used to FAXing and if I had requested the quote via FAX, it would have eliminated the problem because I'd have had the estimate in writing.
If something so simple can have problems, imagine with a commission like the one you have.
ALH's advice is good. Also, get everything in writing.
JAZ

[sculptor]

hey Roy:

before a foundry can give you an accurate estimate, they'll need to see the piece or a macquette-----then you gotta specify alloy and thickness----

-or, some foundries only use one alloy for everything----the local foundryman who does this said it's a lot easier that way, they always know the characteristics of the molten metal if it never changes, and the welds are constant.

foundry costs of 15,000-18,000 for a six footer with any kind of extended limbs seems about average here

you can have it cast out of country for 1/2 that, but delivery becomes a pain

What does your client want? How much are you willing to risk to get the commission? Will you be working under a deadline? Once you have the mold made, copies are production pieces and cost a lot less than a one-of-a-kind.
Does this appy?

Where are you?

rod
sculptor (http://sculpture.alturl.com)

[Roy Tamboli]

Thanks Rod- I have concluded from asking around various sources that the price range for lifesize bronze figures in the US is roughly 45 to 75 thousand. Of course all the details affect the actual final price, but I think this is in the "ballpark." What's your guess?
I'm in Memphis.
Roy

[JAZ]

Dear Lost,
Oh, I have the computer/scanner/very good printer/able to e-mail anything end of things down pat no problemo. But you haven't just gone through the saga of the little coffee table.
A very good friend commissioned me to do a little coffee table - 18"hx22"dx36"w in mild steel. I did six or seven roughs and we agreed on one called "Churning Water" in which the entire table will be made of these water suggestive things I make by cutting irregular ovoid shapes and bending them into flowing shapes.
I needed a 22"x36" piece of 1/4' tempered glass, with finished edges rounded corners and four 1/2" holes drilled in it. Also, a price for one sheet of 11 gauge mild steel from my usual supplier. I called three glass places and the steel place, wrote up a commission estimate for my friend itemizing those costs, studio overhead, etc. and said I'd do the project for $20 an hour for 24 hours, even though I know it will take me longer (pick up the glass, the steel, drawing time, and unforseens, etc.), but he's a friend. The glass was to take 2 weeks because it's tempered.
The best glass estimate was $160 and it happened to be located right on my way to the studio. After getting a deposit from my friend and final approval I brought a schematic to the glass place. They said $160 can't be right. It took them three days to get a written estimate ready for me for $330. What? I'm supposed to just absorb the other $170? The same day I discovered that the steel place gave me a price on 13 gauge, not 11. $35 difference in price. I nearly always buy 11 gauge from them. My contact there is the one who advised me to get a FAX machine so I'd always have a paper trail. All of the glass places I called also use them.
Anyway, the steel person and I split the difference in the cost of the steel because we don't know whose mistake it was. I'm still out $17.50.
I hand delivered schematics to three more glass places that are miles apart and made each give me a written estimate. Two of the prices: $165 and $167. Much better, but several days and a lot of aggravation have gone by. And it will take two more weeks for the glass to arrive (haven't told my client about the delay yet) and I have to drive 18 miles each way to get it.
Anyway, now the table is 1/3 done. It better look good. and I will get a FAX machine, though I'd rather not have to spend the money. I don't usually do tables very often, thank goodness, but now I'll have a better approach with the small suppliers sometimes needed. So, it might be arcane, but that's life on the streets.
JAZ


FAX machine? who uses THOSE antiquated things any more when there is email and scanners that do a much better job with photos and images and cost nothing for a long distance call? The fax was ruined by junk faxes clogging up your machine at your expense, and rendered obsolete by free email with under $100 flatbed scanners and Adobe PDF files.

Geez, a fax machine to me is like using a mimeograph duplicator in grade school in the 60's, remember those?
I said the same thing to an antique store that asked what my fax# was so they could send me an invoice LOL, I said just email it to me and they did as an attached pdf file- much better than fax.

I'd tell them to get some more modern equipment in their office than a fax or go to someone who uses more modern methods of communication with clients :)
Fax is on the way OUT, time to upgrade!