Fox on the terrace

Made to measure for a country house: the fox looks over its shoulder at the back door.

Steel fox of corten steel on a natural stone terrace at a country house, looking over its shoulder, dusk with warm garden lighting

Nº 118 · Fox on the terrace

Work: Nº 118
Client: Private client, country house
Animal: Fox, looking back
Height: 70 cm
Plate: Corten steel 4 mm
Weight: 21 kg
Lead time: 6 weeks
Installation: Steel base plate on natural stone

What they asked for

A fox on the terrace, looking at the back door. On natural stone, so no rust stains on the paving.

The making

The head sits loose on a hinge in the neck, so we could still turn it on site. The tail is built up from twenty narrow strips, each set at a different angle. That way it catches the light like real fur.

On site

We let the fox pre-rust in the sculpture garden for four months and set it on a sunken base plate. The paving is still clean.

A heron of weathered corten steel among tall golden ornamental grass by a pond, low morning light and mist, portrait format

Two-metre heron of rust-brown corten steel at the edge of a pond, reeds and water lilies, soft evening sun

How it stands
there now

Patina right now: orange. The whole sculpture is a warm orange. The protective layer is starting to close.

Day 0Mill scale
Blue-grey and smooth, as the steel comes from the rolling mill. That’s how we set the sculpture down.
Week 2First rust
After a few showers orange spots appear. It looks a bit messy for a while; that’s normal.
Month 3Orange
The whole sculpture is a warm orange. The protective layer is starting to close.
Year 1Rust brown
Deeper and darker. Now it hardly sheds anything.
Year 5Velvet
Purple-brown and matt as velvet. It stays like this for decades.

Next sculptureThree owls in the playground OverviewAll sculptures in a row

Which animal is looking for a home in your garden?

Send a few photos of the spot and tell us which animal you have in mind. Two weeks later there is a sketch to scale, with the price on it.