Pip & Squeak French Provincial Bird Statues, Rust Cast Iron Set of Two

Two small birds in iron, one mid chatter, the other watching the garden.

Pip and Squeak come as a pair and are cast in solid iron, finished in a natural rust patina that runs warm amber across the feathered backs and settles darker in the wing lines. Pip is the wren, chest lifted and tail cocked, on a small pebble base. Squeak sits upright on a cut stump with a sprig of leaves at his feet. Together they weigh 1.2 kg, which is what tells them apart from the resin garden birds sitting next to them on a shelf.

At 15cm and 14cm tall they are hand sized, made to be placed rather than displayed. They are built for outdoor life: the iron holds them on a wall cap in wind, and the rust patina is a finish rather than a fault, so weather deepens them instead of wearing them out.

Why we love it

• ◆They come as a pair, two different castings rather than one shape twice, so they read as company on a ledge
• ◆The weight, 1.2 kg of cast iron across the two, so a gust moves the leaves around them and not the birds
• ◆The rust patina, warm amber where light catches the raised feathers, darker down in the wing lines, and it only improves outdoors
• ◆The casting, every feather, the eye, the beak and the leaf sprig worked rather than smoothed away

How to style it

Small pieces work hardest when they are found rather than presented, so tuck them in where someone will come across them.

• Set them a hand apart on a garden wall cap so they look like they landed there
• Stand one at the lip of a terracotta pot and the other in the gravel below it
• Bring them to a kitchen windowsill or a bookshelf over winter
• Group them with the rest of our garden sculptures or beside a run of planters

Care & Keeping

Wipe with a soft dry cloth to lift dust out of the feathering. The rust patina is a finished surface and needs no sealing. Place a felt pad or a saucer underneath on pale stone or painted timber, and keep harsh chemical cleaners and abrasive pads away from them.

Because Pip and Squeak are hand-finished, slight variations in patina, texture, and grain are natural and add to the unique character of each piece. Colour may also vary slightly between screens, all photography is taken in natural light.