Base an equestrian sculpture

How to present a horse sculpture?

The horse, with its scientific name Equus ferus caballus, has been the animal closest to man for thousands of years.

As such, representations of the horse have existed for just as long. And its appearance has changed with the evolution of art history. Small, large, made of iron, steel, or wood, it always symbolizes notoriety and power.

The ancient Greeks were renowned for their equestrian sculptures, often depicting mythological heroes on horseback. The Romans also created equestrian sculptures, celebrating generals and emperors on horseback.

Each era has its own representation of the horse.

In modern times, equestrian sculpture has been used to glorify military deeds, and today, abstract, modernist, and even minimalist sculptures have emerged.

What do you call a statue representing a character on horseback?

A statue depicting a horse and its rider is called an equestrian statue. It depicts a figure mounted on a horse. The equestrian statue holds a special role in the field of sculpture due to the technical difficulty and cost of its manufacture. Despite this, a very large number of representations exist.
The attitude of the horse carrying its rider is of great importance in an equestrian statue.
We will focus mainly on the movement of the horse's legs.
Thus, the position of the horse's legs carries a very particular meaning.

What is the significance of a horse's two legs in an equestrian statue?
Understanding them allows us to learn more about the life of the rider depicted.
Observe carefully if:
- The horse's two front legs are in the air. Understand that the rider is dead in battle.
- The right leg is raised, the fighter was assassinated off the battlefield.
- the left leg is in the air, the fighter died from his injuries.
This symbolism is only valid if the horse is ridden by a rider. However, there are also many equestrian sculptures where the horse is "free."
This animal then gives off a feeling of power and freedom.

Equestrian statue

Placed in an interior, an equestrian sculpture signifies: energy, success, happiness and prosperity.

The essential horse sculpture

A true passion for some or a symbol of power for others, the horse statue rarely leaves anyone indifferent.

over time it becomes a must-have in interior decoration.

There are even ways in traditional Hindu beliefs to position the equestrian statue in the house.

Vastu shastra (vāstu śāstra) is the science of architecture of ancient India. It is a Sanskrit word that can be literally translated as "the science of architecture."

When applying the principles of Vastu, one wonders: Is a horse statue good for the home? Keeping a horse statue at home is considered auspicious as it signifies energy, success, happiness, and prosperity. According to Vastu, horse figurines should be kept in the south corner.

The magical image of the horse is not a Hindu exclusive, far from it.

Let us recall here the mystical aura that surrounds the horseshoe in Western culture.

The superstition and "magical" aspect of the horseshoe comes partly from the Greeks and also from Christianity. They believed that the horseshoe had a repellent power over evil. Moreover, it was shaped like a crescent. At the time, the crescent was synonymous with fertility and luck.

This superstition is accepted by Christians and used to scare away evil creatures and the devil.

The imagination surrounding the horse and its representation makes it a very special object.

As a plinth builder, we must keep all these specificities in mind, in order to offer a custom-made plinth capable of preserving this magic.

Morphologically tailored base

Like all manual disciplines, the basing of works of art has several aspects.

In addition to the various materials we can use—steel, wood, brass—the appearance of the base itself has its own characteristics.
So, for some sculptures, we will use what is called the morphological custom base.
What is a morphological base?
A morphological base is a base that is positioned on a human or animal figure and which allows the missing proportions to be restored.
For example, for a sculpted head, we can decide to create a base that will restore the almost real size of the character's body rather than creating a 20 cm high base, which will give a disproportionate appearance to the sculpture.
For the horse figure, the choice of the morphological base is highly recommended, especially in the case of a sculpted horse head. Depending on the location of the break with the body, the base rod will replace the missing part of the body, often the neck, and thus allow the rod to be fixed to the base of the base. The proportions of the horse's body are thus respected.
The morphological base appears to be a solution in the specific case of a sculpted horse's head. But there are other solutions for custom bases that are perfectly appropriate.

Custom base with drilling.

The work of creating a custom base consists of stepping back in favor of the work it supports.
To keep the work on the base, there are several technical solutions.
The base worker can hold the work with hooks; when tightened, the hooks help support the object. This technique is used for coco-fesses, for example. (See article on coco-fesses.)
The object can also simply be placed on the base, often in a suitable structure as shown in this base for pocket globes.
The final technique involves drilling a hole in the sculpture and sliding a rod inside. The sculpture is then held in place perfectly.
This technique is always carried out with the client's agreement and requires the placement of an insert in the sculpture.

Example of drilling intervention with a black steel or plexiglass base.

Fixed base

The objects we base have different origins and stories. That's what we enjoy about this job. Telling the story of the work allows us to adapt a base.
For example, for very old pieces, such as archaeological ones, we will favor rather gentle plinth approaches, say without drilling. Some pieces can support fanciful custom-made plinths, while others reveal their full beauty with classic custom-made plinths.

For the bronze horse sculpture shown below, we created a custom-made black steel base. The sculpture nestled in a cradle designed to its exact dimensions. This is the most commonly used solution. It's truly custom-made, as the cradle fits perfectly to the size of the horse's belly. The challenge with this type of creation is the position of the support rod.
You have to be able to place it in the right place. Indeed, if the stem is poorly positioned on the base, the horse sculpture will tend to come out of the "frame" while correctly positioning the horse base balance will be perfect.

Bronze horse sculpture on a black steel base
Front view

This stone horse sculpture is hollow underneath, unlike the previous example. We took advantage of this feature to create its base. Instead of fitting the sculpture from the outside, this base fits directly inside.

The custom-made base allows you to attach your equestrian sculpture to a support and thus keep it in place. The base also secures the object.
When it comes to object protection, there are other solutions, such as plexiglass covers. This type of installation requires a quote, with varying lead times. The covers themselves are custom-made to museum standards.

Our custom-made base project for Longchamp.

Longchamp, the French luxury brand, needs no introduction. The brand has used a galloping horse as its emblem since its creation by Jean Cassegrain in 1948.
In reference to the eponymous racecourse.
We regularly collaborate with this brand. Often, we request a horse display. See blog....
The goal of this project was to create a real wooden pedestal to house a horse sculpture. This wooden pedestal will then be covered with a sticker in the colors of the famous Toilet Paper newspaper.
To celebrate the collaboration between the two brands.
So we got to work and started by creating the wooden pedestal.

Follow us behind the scenes of the installation of the Longchamp corner at Le Bon Marché .

Installing the Toilet paper sticker on our wooden pedestal.

Discovery of the resin horse

Installing the retaining rod

Installing the horse rod on the pedestal

For this type of project, the work always begins by sending a 3D view. The Longchamp teams create a projection of the corner as they envision it. Then comes the phase of considering which material to use, can we reuse existing displays, or do we have to recreate everything?
For this project, we designed and delivered the pedestal and stem while Longchamp took care of the horse.
Here, the drilling technique was favored. The horse is pierced to accommodate the metal support rod. This rod is then nestled into the pedestal, which was previously covered with its sticker.