Specialised Castings
Sculpture / Architectural Castings
There has been a resurgence in recent years in the use of cast iron for sculpture and architectural work and Coupe Foundry are pleased to be part of this. Several artist commissions have been accepted with quite outstanding results.
On Wednesday 21/10/09 we were fortunate enough to be invited to the opening ceremony of local internationally renowned artist Mr Charles Hadcock FRBS exhibition. This took place in the RBS gallery situated on Old Brompton Road London and ran from 21-10-2009 to 13-11-2009. The castings above and below were produced by Coupe Foundry.
The exhibition, entitled Fafner's Cave, is taken from The Ring Cycle by Richard Wagner. Fafner, having stolen the ring of power and the treasures of the Rhine, turns himself into a dragon to guard his hoard deep in a cave. This cave is full of earthly physicality and treasures. Thus the RBS Studio gallery is like Fafner's cave, full of treasure and symbolism which invite the viewer to imagine, discover and experience the unexpected. Charles' work is a marriage between natural organic elements and engineering. In particular he uses to great effect the earth texture to convey his message.
Coupe foundry have been associated with Charles for a number of years and have collaborated with him on some of his best and most exciting works. Three recent projects are on exhibition are:-
(1) Entitled ‘Verticil’ has been tastefully situated in the prestigious Hanover Square London and was cast at Coupe Foundry in sections from polystyrene patterns. Charles worked the geological texture into the pattern in his workshop.
(2) The second sculpture, affectionately known in the foundry as ‘stack of rocks’, is a piece that encourages the viewer to walk the steps to Fafner’s hoard. This piece was again cast at Coupe using pattern sections constructed from a combination of wood and resin to produce the surface texture.
(3) The final collaboration piece is a small globe that offers the viewer a 
surprising visual feast. The shape and size morph as you walk around giving an illusion of the changing geology discovered inside the earth’s hidden caverns.
