How to present a sculpted head

How to base a sculpted head?

"I consider that a

successful plinth is

essential

in order to present

my objects under

their best angle"

Alexandre Piatti,

A.Piatti Gallery, Paris

To base an object is to travel through time.

Since we began our base-making business, we've made bases for a wide variety of objects. Masks (lots), pocket globes (instructive), walking sticks (magnificent), and we've made bases for sculpted heads, lots of sculpted heads.

Placing an object on a base is like traveling through time, because we have in our hands an object with its own history. Often already worked by a craftsman years or even centuries before us. So when we place a head on a base, it was most often part of a whole. Archaeologists know that over time, for a full-length human sculpture, the head breaks, separating itself from the body. We then find many heads and many bodies sculpted separately. For example, the Winged Victory of Samothrace.
This is why this type of motif is so common among antique dealers and therefore among us. Because a head without a body and therefore, by extension, without a base, cannot stand upright.

La Bulle offers to adapt as best as possible to your desires and the pattern you ask us to base.
So, for sculpted heads, we offer no less than 5 base solutions.

As a specialist in displaying objects, we also offer a full range of standard displays for your art objects. We offer presentation solutions for your books, weapons, and paintings.
Quickly discover our displays available for sale online.

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Our 5 basing techniques for your sculpted heads.

La Bulle presents the 5 basing techniques for a sculpted head.

- Base by drilling
- Drilling with brass insert
- Structure without drilling
- Embedding
- Other examples of tailor-made products

1 - Custom-made base with drilling

For this type of base we drill the object under the neck of the sculpture or sometimes in the back part.

Sometimes a hole is already present in the object . In this case, we exploit it as is or we modify it.
This technique allows for an economical and discreet presentation.

Here are some of the custom-made creations designed for prestigious art galleries in the famous antiques district of Carré Rive Gauche in Paris.

Base of two heads on a black Belgian marble base - Brass rod - drilling

Work produced for the Puiseux Gallery

Steel bases with dark patina.

Here the drilling of the 2 heads is carried out on the back.

Base for the Alexandre Piatti gallery

Base of a head of Christ - Base and stem in steel with black paint - Made for the Alexandre Piatti gallery

Base with a dark, speckled patinated steel base.

The lion's head is pierced.

The round stem was hidden by a square tube.

Custom-made base made for the Puiseux Gallery :

Wooden head - Here we reused an old base found at a flea market -

We inserted a brass plate to make the junction with the head.

This was attached to the back using a brass wood screw.

2 - Base an object using the insert drilling technique.

For this creation, we also drill under the neck of the sculpture, but this time, we insert a square brass tube fixed with resin or glue. We then place a square rod of the same shape inside.

This base technique guarantees the lateral stability of the head on its base.
The base is also removable.

Zoom in on the brass insert of this base

Marble head on a solid brass base with recess and insert

Base for the Tinivella Gallery - Paris Saint Ouen Flea Market .

3 - Creating a structure without drilling the object

We create a structure that grips the object with steel or brass claws that fit as closely as possible to the contours of the object. A heat-shrinkable rubber sheath is often used to avoid marking the object.
We thus fully respect the physical integrity of the object.