Bronze Bull Elk

Category: Life-size animals
Edition: Limited edition of 20
Material: Bronze
Status: Available
Price: Price on request

The bull elk is cast in bronze in a limited edition of twenty, from molds Russ took from his own welded steel original — a one-of-a-kind work in its own right, shown elsewhere in this gallery. The molds stay with the artist, and each casting is patinaed by hand before it leaves the foundry.

Number 1 of the edition is in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, and number 2 in Deer Valley, Utah. Number 3 was installed in Sun Valley in 2015. Number 4 was patinaed at the foundry in 2025 and has since been installed in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. The photographs on this page show castings 2, 3 and 4 — the captions say which.

Castings remain available in the edition, made to order through the artist. Bronze lead time runs about eight months.

In sequence

Bronze bull elk strapped upright in a pickup bed for transport, the Teton Range on the horizon

The elk's antler shadow cast on the road during a transport stop

Hooking the wrapped elk to a crane in the truck bed

The bronze elk airborne on the crane line among the aspens

Guiding the suspended elk past the aspens

Carrying the wrapped elk down the stone steps

The installed bronze elk seen through aspens along a stone path

The bronze bull elk installed in tall grass, three-quarter view

Head of the installed bronze bull elk, hills behind

The bronze bull elk overlooking the Jackson Hole valley — Cast 1 travelling from the Bellevue studio and installed above the Jackson Hole valley, June 2016

Other views

Russ Lamb on a ladder working on the life-size bronze bull elk at the foundry — Cast 4 at the foundry during patina work, September 2025

The bronze bull elk's head and antlers riding in the bed of a pickup on a mountain highway — Cast 4 in transport, September 2025

The unpatinaed bronze bull elk standing on a steel frame in the shop, seen from the side — Cast 4 at the foundry before patina, September 2025

A man on a stepladder working on the antlers of the unpatinaed bronze bull elk in the shop — Cast 4 at the foundry before patina, September 2025

A torch flame playing across the bronze bull elk's shoulder as the patina is applied — Cast 4 at the foundry during patina work, September 2025

Details

Close view of the bronze bull elk's patchwork patina and weld seams — Cast 4 — patina detail

Close view of the bronze bull elk's eye and muzzle, showing the beaded weld seams and the colours of the patina — Cast 4 — patina detail

In place

The bronze bull elk installed in a driveway island at a private residence — Cast 4 of 20, Coeur d'Alene, Idaho

The bronze bull elk at night in front of a house strung with holiday lights — Cast 4 of 20, Coeur d'Alene, Idaho

The third casting of the bronze bull elk being lowered into place at its Sun Valley installation — Cast 3 of 20 at installation, Sun Valley, Idaho, 2015

The bronze bull elk standing on a grassy slope below a ski lift, conifers and mountain houses behind it — Cast 2 of 20, Deer Valley, Utah — photographed 2019

Two men standing beside the bronze bull elk on a grassy slope below a ski lift — Cast 2 of 20, Deer Valley, Utah — photographed 2019

Workers steadying the bronze bull elk by its antlers as it is set down on a graded site — Cast 3 of 20 at installation, Sun Valley, Idaho, 2015

The bronze bull elk hanging in a crane strap, guided by hand onto the steel frame of its base — Cast 3 of 20 at installation, Sun Valley, Idaho, 2015