How It's Crafted
Every Patrick Mavros silver sculpture is made using the ancient technique of lost wax casting, refined over many years in our own workshop to yield exceptional results.
A handmade wax model is encased in liquid rubber which, once set, is carefully cut away to provide a ‘negative’. Into this cavity, molten wax is injected, allowed to cool and removed from the rubber mould in the form of the original.
After thorough checking, the new wax model is covered with investment powder and fired. The heat melts the wax, which trickles out through a tiny aperture. All that remains in the plaster is a perfect hollow in which every surface detail of the wax model is captured. Molten silver is then poured into the plaster mould.
Once the silver has cooled, the plaster mould is broken open to reveal the silver casting. The casting is then cleaned and checked to see that every detail of the original has been faithfully reproduced in silver.
Finally the piece is hallmarked and polished.
The Patrick Mavros team in Harare
Hallmark
PM IN OVAL
The first hallmark on a piece shows ‘the maker’. The Patrick Mavros mark is registered at the Assay Office
in the Goldsmiths’ Hall in London.
Sterling Silver Mark
This mark depicts a Sable antelope head within a triangle. The mark was originally awarded to the Colony of Southern Rhodesia in 1923.
Date Stamp
The English Date Stamp is always in the form of a letter
of the alphabet.
