General Hector French Provincial Hare Bust in a Jabot, Rust Cast Iron 27.5cm

A hare in a jabot, ears at full attention, ready to address the room.

General Hector is a hare head bust cast in solid iron and finished in a natural rust patina, both long ears straight up, wearing a tailored jacket with a deep ruffled jabot at the throat, mounted on a flared pedestal foot with a square base. He weighs 2.6 kg, which is the difference between cast iron and the resin pieces that copy this shape. The casting carries the veining inside each ear, every fold of the jabot and the whiskers at the muzzle.

At 27.5cm he is the size of a table lamp, small enough to lift with one hand and formal enough to anchor a console. He is built for outdoor life: the pedestal gives him a flat stable foot, and the rust patina is a finish rather than a fault, so weather deepens him instead of wearing him out.

Why we love it

• ◆The ears, cast dead upright and separated, which is a hard thing to do in iron and the reason he reads from a distance
• ◆The jabot, a deep ruffled cascade at the throat, worked fold by fold, unmistakably eighteenth century
• ◆The weight, 2.6 kg of solid cast iron on a pedestal foot, so he holds a shelf edge without a thought
• ◆The rust patina, deep amber along the ears and the jaw, russet down in the ruffles, and it only improves outdoors

How to style it

He is tall and narrow with the whole story at the top, so put him where people look up slightly.

• Stand him on a hall console or the end of a mantel
• Set him on a stack of books to lift the ears clear of everything around him
• Put him in a bookcase niche where the ears fill the height
• Group him with our other rabbits and hares in the garden sculptures collection
• Bring him outdoors to a covered table through the warm months

Care & Keeping

Wipe with a soft dry cloth to lift dust out of the insides of the ears and between the jabot folds. 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 him.

Because General Hector is 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.