BANK OF THE WEST INVESTMENT SERVICES

This Grave Monument was cast in pure Zinc in Bridgeport Connecticut, by the Monumental Bronze Company. It is hollow. This company operated from 1874 - 1914, and had dealerships in several cities in the USA, and one in Canada, in St. Thomas, Ontario. They advertised these castings as "White Bronze". They were cheaper to buy than Granite or Marble, and much lighter and cheaper to ship. Marble Monuments from the same time period are sometimes now so weathered that they are nearly unreadable. These, as you can see from the following photos are still perfectly legible. These type of monuments are scattered about South Western Ontario in various cemeteries, and sometimes you will only see one in a cemetery. They seem to have been a good investment. This one is in St. James Cemetery,(Anglican) in Brooke-Alvinston, Ontario.

My first attempt at a hollow investment - cored bronze casting. I used bronze welding rod as the pins to hold the core in place, and the piece was vacume cast. It is about the size of a tennis ball and the walls are about 3/8in thick.