Bronze Horse Head Sculpture - Art By Patricia Crane

The bronze horse head sculpture displayed below is one half life size, a horse head study that is already in museum collections as well as private collections, and is used by the United Professional Horseman's Association as a national, perpetual bronze trophy award.

The popularity of a bronze horse head, and the focused intense detail plus expression, captured Patricia Crane's interest early in her career, a career which now spans 4 decades full of bronzes of the horse, including life size work at the Kentucky Horse Park. This particular bronze horse head though has continued to be favored by horsemen and it is they who started calling the bronze, the listening horse.... a well-bred horse, attentive to his human partner.

Quality in Bronze Horse Head Sculpture

This bronze horse head, like all of the sculpture of Patricia Crane is of museum quality. This is achieved only by the hands-on presence and dedication of the sculptor from stage one of the original horse head modeling, through the several different molds, the wax and bronze metal finishing, then final patination, all in partnership with the artisans of a high reputation fine arts foundry. There is no quick way to achieve the results seen in this bronze horse head, and all involved in the process must be willing to spend the time and also own the knowledge of "how to". Beyond the skill of the sculptor's original talent, much else is required.

A bronze horse head , portrait or otherwise, has been popular from generation to generation, from country to county. Horse head studies have long been a favorite subject of bronze sculptors. The lost wax method of casting bronze was discovered around 4,000 years ago and the fine art of bronze casting has evolved with the centuries. For this bronze horse head, or any bronze for that matter, to be considered museum quality many factors are judged : the lighter the bronze the better; an absence of tool marks on the surface; the depth achieved by each layer of transparent chemical patination (or coloring of the bronze) is also required; and of course the innate and honed skill of the sculptor.


View the Bronze Horse Sculpture Gallery