For
centuries, bronze has been prized for its toughness, and there is a
lot of proof for it. One such proof is the bronze bell from the
ill-fated HMS Erebus, a Royal Navy ship that went missing, along with
the HMS Terror, almost 170 years ago while trying to find the fabled
Northwest Passage connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.
Discovered
last September 2014 and subsequently recovered a couple of months
later, the bell was among the few artifacts from the HMS Erebus wreck
that was found perfectly intact after the ship went missing back in
1845—its exact fate never known, until today. Aside from a few
amounts of coral on its surface, the bell remains whole and its
distinguishing marks are perfectly legible: a broad arrow symbol
representing Royal Navy ownership, and the date 1845 (the year the
expedition set sail).
The
durability of bronze stretches far beyond bells. Modern preservation
techniques aside, various bronze sculptures hundreds and thousands of
years old have survived until this day, and are now being adored in
museums around the world. Among these is Bronze
David by
the Renaissance artisan Donatello, made in the 1440s, which looks no
less different than the way it did centuries ago.
There
are numerous metals that can last, but apparently nothing can match
bronze in terms of longevity. So for sculptors and artisans looking
to craft a piece that would stand the test of time, durable
bronze sheets
from suppliers are the best materials.
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