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Art News

Struggling British Statue Maker Feels Economic Heat

The Victory Arch, also referred to as the Crossed Swords monument or the Swords of Qadisiyah, photographed recently in 2007. The fists that are holding the swords or sabres were modelled after Saddam Hussein’s hands. Made by 170-year-old British foundry, Morris Singer.

LONDON (REUTERS).- A
170-year-old British foundry that has made some of the world’s best
known
statues, including two of the lions in London’s Trafalgar Square and
Saddam
Hussein’s giant crossed-swords arch in Baghdad, faces closure. The
recession has
cut global demand for statues and rising metal prices have eroded
profits at
Morris Singer, a company that can trace its roots back to the 1840s.
London-based administrator MCR has been appointed to oversee the
business while
it looks for a buyer to rescue the loss-making foundry.