01
Mould making
A silicone skin captures the original down to the fingerprint; a resin jacket holds its shape. The original goes back to the artist untouched.
silicone · resin jacket
Mould making
Fine art bronze foundry · Nooitgedacht Estate, Stellenbosch
Never imagined.Cast in bronze.
Bronz Editions casts limited editions and monumental work for South Africa's leading sculptors, by the lost-wax method, on a farm first granted in 1692.
1 200 °Cpour temperature
6stages under one roof
4 mmwax wall, down to the fingerprint
1692the farm's first land grant
For sculptors and galleries
Cast with us
A personal service from origination to installation. Any size, any complexity, cast on time and on budget, with the artist welcome at every stage.
Origination
From maquette, drawing or 3D file to a cast-ready original.
Scaling up
Tabletop to monumental, with the proportions intact.
Mould making
Silicone and resin moulds that capture the fingerprint.
Lost-wax casting
Ceramic shell investment, poured at 1 200 °C.
Patination
Classic to experimental finishes, developed with the artist.
Restoration
Repair, re-patination and conservation of existing bronzes.
Delivery & installation
Crated, transported and placed, from gallery plinth to public square.
“The foundry echoes the artist's standard for quality and workmanship in every piece. It becomes one of the key factors in realising the artist's vision.”
Vincent da Silva, sculptor, Somerset West
The lost-wax method
From clay to bronze in six stages
The method is essentially what it was in 2000 BC. The tools and the shell chemistry are not. Every stage happens here, under one roof.
Mould making02
Wax positive
Hot wax is painted into the mould and poured to a 4 mm shell. Seams are chased out. Here the artist signs and the edition is numbered.
4 mm · signed & numbered
The wax room03
Ceramic shell
Layer by layer the wax is dipped in ceramic slurry and molochite, fine to coarse, and dried in a controlled cabinet until the shell is rock-hard.
fine → coarse · controlled drying
The shell room04
The pour
The shell is fired at 725 °C and the wax runs out. Bronze is melted to 1 200 °C, decanted into a pre-heated crucible and poured in one unbroken motion.
725 °C burnout · 1 200 °C pour
The pour05
Fettling & chasing
The shell is tapped and blasted away. Sections are TIG-welded with matching bronze and the joins blended until no eye can find them.
TIG weld · matched bronze
Metal chasing06
Patina
Chemistry, heat and a steady hand colour the surface: classic bronze, verdigris, or something no one has tried before. Indoor work is waxed; outdoor work keeps changing.
heat · oxidising agents · wax
PatinationCast here
Work that left the foundry
A small selection, every piece cast at Nooitgedacht. Work is sold through the artists and their galleries, and from 2027 here on the farm. Tap any piece to see it whole.
Lionel Smit · Cloud
Lionel Smit · Malay Head
Anton Momberg · Gandhi
Barry Jackson · Gemsbok
The shell room
Fana Malherbe · Twisted Torso
Theo Megaw · Girl with Dove
A monumental head on the floor
The pour
The chasing benchSelected artists
Who casts at Bronz Editions
Lionel SmitMalay Head · Fragment Mask · Cloud
Anton MombergGandhi maquette · Are We There Yet
Barry JacksonGemsbok · Prima Ballerina
Fana MalherbeTwisted Torso · Penguins
Theo MegawGirl with Dove · Shy
Roster shown from the current site · final list to follow from the client
The foundry
A foundry on a farm first granted in 1692
Nooitgedacht lies 5 km north of Stellenbosch on the R304, under oaks older than the country's name. Loosely translated, the farm's name means “never imagined”. In 2011 Christiaan Wirth bought a struggling foundry on the estate to keep its craftsmen working. Today it is one of South Africa's recognised art foundries.
- 1692
Granted to Matthias Greeff, a blacksmith from Magdeburg
- 1774
The Cape Dutch manor house is built
- 1890
Cecil John Rhodes buys the farm
- 1923
The Wirth family takes custodianship
- 2011
Bronz Editions is founded to save the foundry
- 2027
A gallery opens on the farm
“The foundry was going through tough times, and the manager put a proposal to me: save the foundry, and the livelihoods of the staff.”
“I had no clue about the manufacturing process. With the guidance of the foundry's staff and its clients, who are mainly well-known artists and sculptors, we are now one of the recognised art foundries in South Africa.”
Christiaan Wirth, founder · from an interview with Castings SA, 2015
The people
Every stage of the lost-wax method is a department, and every department is a craftsman who has spent years on one skill: mouldmaking, wax, ceramic shell, casting, fettling, patina. Several have been on this floor for more than a decade.
Their names and portraits belong on this page, and will be added as the client supplies them.
Coming 2027
The gallery is coming
From 2027 a gallery on the farm will show work cast here, and the foundry will open its doors by arrangement. Leave your number and you'll hear first.
Theo Megaw · Girl with Dove- Where
- Nooitgedacht Estate, R304 Koelenhof Road, Stellenbosch
Open in Google Maps - Hours
- Monday to Friday, 08:00–17:00
- Foundry visits
- By arrangement, from 2027
- Gallery
- Opening on the farm in 2027
Request a quote
Bring us your piece
Tell us what you have and what you want. We'll come back with a no-obligation quotation.
Your message is ready
Ref —
Attach photos of the piece once WhatsApp opens, or email them to info@bronz.co.za.