David Harber’s Mantle II: bronze sphere that glows at dusk

Light pools from within the pierced bronze skin of Mantle II as dusk descends, spilling gold across the garden. David Harber Sculptures has designed this sphere to function as both sculpture and lantern, its perforated surface calibrated to cast warm geometry on the ground beneath, on water’s edge, on the faces of those who gather around it. The work sits at the intersection of form and function: classical in its spherical geometry, contemporary in its vocabulary of cut and perforation.

What distinguishes this piece is the collaborative craft behind it. A collective of metalworkers, each bringing years of accumulated knowledge, shapes and joins every element with precision. The scale-like pattern of bronze cutouts reveals the labour involved: each opening is considered, each joint deliberate. The hand is visible in the slight variation of tone across the surface, in how light catches differently depending on angle and time of day. This is not template work but understanding, the knowledge of how heat affects the colour of metal and how gaps of exact width will cast light when evening arrives.

The manufacturing process exposes the rigour. Welding torches illuminate intricate joinery; bronze scales overlap and interlock with mathematical care. The craftspeople understand proportions and material behaviour, how the sphere will age and patina over time, deepening from its initial warm tone to something richer and more textured. The bronze will weather into its own particular finish, while the light inside continues to mark the passage of seasons, arriving earlier and later as the year turns.

Scale and placement matter equally. Mantle II is large enough to command attention, to draw people toward it and around it, to become a destination within a garden rather than an ornament within one. It works as focal point, as lighting, as gathering place. The reflection in water below mirrors the glow, doubling its presence. The surrounding greenery frames rather than obscures it; the artist has understood how to position sculpture within landscape so that each element amplifies the other.

For those who use their gardens into the evening, who value moments of pause and gathering, Mantle II offers something beyond decoration. It is architecture for contemplation, crafted by hands that speak the language of metal. Each evening, as light spills from within, it becomes a reason to step outside.

David Harber, a sculptor based in the Cotswolds, founded his practice in the 1990s and has spent three decades developing a body of work that merges light, form and outdoor spaces. His pieces exist in private collections and public gardens across Europe and North America, often commissioned for their ability to transform a landscape through the interplay of shadow and illumination. Mantle II extends this vocabulary: a sphere 1.2 metres in diameter, hand-pierced bronze with an integrated lighting system designed to operate year-round without requiring installation or specialist electrical work.

David Harber founded his practice in the mid-1990s and has spent three decades developing a vocabulary of light and outdoor sculpture. His commissions exist in private gardens and public spaces across Europe and North America, often chosen for their ability to transform a landscape through shadow and illumination. Mantle II extends this work: a sphere 1.2 metres in diameter, hand-pierced bronze with integrated lighting. The piece emerges from collaboration with a collective of metalworkers in his Cotswolds workshop, each bringing years of accumulated knowledge to the work of shaping, cutting and joining bronze at scale.

The making reveals the precision required. Overlapping bronze scales are cut and finished by hand, creating the perforated surface. Each opening is considered; each joint deliberate. The hand is visible in the slight variation of tone across the bronze, in how light catches differently depending on angle and time of day. The craftspeople understand how heat affects metal colour and how gaps of exact width will cast geometry when evening arrives. Bronze develops natural patina over time, shifting in colour and texture as it weathers.

Mantle II is priced at £18,500 and available through David Harber Sculptures’ website and selected galleries. Made to order, each sphere is completed by the workshop collective, with delivery and installation typically taking eight to twelve weeks from commission. The work carries a ten-year guarantee against structural defect. For gardens where gathering and contemplation matter, it can be viewed by appointment through the sculptor’s portfolio or through completed works held in collections.