Founder

Founders make sculptures, jewels, or decorative objects using moulds they make themselves. These moulds can be fashioned from plaster for gravity casting, or silicone if the founder works by centrifugation. Metals are generally the founder’s preferred material, but some studios have developed savoir-faire allowing them to mould resin as well. The moulding work is followed by finishing processes: deburring (to smooth out the unevenness characteristic of manual work), buffing, and chemical or electrolytic treatments. In France, around 300 artisans are masters in artistic foundry.

The École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts, the École Boulle, together with specialised secondary schools training pupils in industrial foundry provide access to this savoir-faire.