Replica statue for Amsterdam Museum

Commissioned by Amsterdam Museum, Brink & van Keulen 1646 has produced a unique cast sculpture of nostalgic value for the Australian museum, using traditional methods and the 3D scan and print technique. Library Museum in Albury. 

Amsterdam Museum had the desire to make a copy of a casting - and found the right partner in Brink en van Keulen to make it happen. The young entrepreneurs, armed with centuries of knowledge, felt honored and challenged to realise the casting for the Australian Albury Museum.

Albury-Amsterdam 

The recovered sculpture God Speed, created by Australian sculptor Paul Montford, commemorates Australian rescue of the Uiver in 1934. In August 1935 Mayor Willem de Vlugt was offered a sculpture by his colleague from Albury, Australia. The sculpture was a reminder of the UiverThe statue, which underscores the strong bond of friendship that resulted from this event, had a place of honour in the town hall until it disappeared in 1962. It was recently found in the depot of the Amsterdam Museum. Its provenance was unknown to the museum and it was listed in the catalogs under the terms "statue" and "lion". 

Brink & van Keulen were commissioned by Amsterdam to make a replica of the sculpture for the Albury Museum 75 years later. The sculptor Paul Montford (1868-1938) would probably never have imagined that this could be achieved using a 3D scanner and printer. 

Innovation and craftsmanship

The old-Dutch yellow casting technique is applied with the help of modern technology and thus offers endless possibilities for artists, museums, architects, and designers. 

Innovations are not shunned. With the age-old knowledge that has been passed on for generations, combined with the current technological developments and the ambitions of the entrepreneurs, all kinds of customised work can be offered. Through a creative and agile process, in which complex possibilities are explored and production processes are streamlined. 

Brink & van Keulen were able to realise the sculpture in this way, to the satisfaction of all parties involved. The old manual methods such as regional casting, polishing, and marble processing combined with modern technology such as 3D scanning, 3D plastic printing of the mold, and 3D drawing of the marble base have created an accurate replica of the detailed castings from 1934.

Flying Dutchmen the series

The epic drama series aired on Dutch TV in 2020. The Flying Dutchmen is set during the early days of our commercial aviation. Aircraft builder Anthony Fokker (Fedja van Huêt) and founder of KLM Albert Plesman (Daan Schuurmans) were inextricably linked as aviation pioneers. Together they succeeded in making the Netherlands a major player on the world aviation stage during the Interbellum. One of the episodes shows the staged images of the emergency landing of the Uiver in Albury. Watch it here: www.avrotros.nl/vliegende-hollanders

The Master's Thesis 

From apprentice to master. Craftsmen were trained in practice. In Groningen, from 1646 onwards, yellow-cast workers had to make a twelve-arm chandelier as an experiment. Not coincidentally, it was in 2019 that the young entrepreneurs realised four pieces for the Martinikerk in Groningen, where brass chandeliers are being displayed once again after 100 years. 

Apprentices were taken on in the company of a master craftsman and trained in the trade there. After an apprenticeship of several years, the apprentice could be recognised and after successful completion of the master's test, they could finally obtain the title of 'master'. This title was necessary to work as an independent master craftsman. The same was true for the yellow-casters. When Bob and Rodny joined the company in 2016, they learned the production processes in practice, and now they can call themselves independent masters. Realising the sculpture for Amsterdam Museum was another masterstroke, this time the age-old craft supported by modern technology.