Laure Dillon Designs

Handmade Bronze Decorative Hardware

Each piece of the bronze hardware offered by Laure Dillon Designs is made by hand in the United States using

the centuries-old lost wax process. Lost wax fabrication is labor intensive and allows for intricate shapes

and details to be created in bronze.

Background and Intention

Begun in 1991 with the design of the original waxes and bronze prototypes, manufacturing started in late 1992.

Laure Dillon is a self-trained artist, and manufactures with a fine art foundry in Arizona.

The underlying intention of the company is to dedicate one third of the profits to charitable works,

especially in the fields of environmental protection and humanitarian assistance.

Co-projects with other like-minded people are welcomed.

The Lost Wax Process

The traditional lost wax process has many stages, each of which employs skilled artisans:

creation of an original form made by the artist, generally in wax

construction of the original mold used for the first and future waxes

perfection of each wax to eliminate wax flaws, if any

sprewing (making channels so the molten metal can flow to every part of the object)

forming the ceramic shell mold around the wax

melting out the wax (hence "lost wax" process) from the shell mold

pouring the molten bronze into the shell mold

chipping away the shell mold

blow-torch cutting away of the sprew channels

glass bead blasting of the bronze to remove remnants of the shell mold

polishing and chasing (similar to engraving) the bronze for final details

drilling for screws and brackets, and finally

addition of color patinas and hot wax