Held to the standard of the institutions it answers to.
Every OSSA piece is a cast — built, finished, and installed by our atelier to the standard of a national collection. Here is how, and what that means.
A cast is only as good as the hand that finishes it.
Casting is the oldest tool in palaeontology: it is how the great skeletons travel between the world’s museums without the originals ever leaving their cases. OSSA works in that tradition — taking master moulds from accessioned originals under licence, then casting and hand-finishing each piece to a standard a curator would recognise.
The difference between a souvenir and a centrepiece is entirely in the finishing: the foramina, the sutures, the serrations, the patina. That work is done by hand, and it is most of the work.
From the original to your room.
Moulding
A master mould is taken from a museum-accessioned original under licence — the only honest starting point for a faithful cast.
Casting
Poured in a hand-finished resin and fibreglass composite, internally reinforced for permanence and for safe mounting at scale.
Finishing
Every surface is worked by hand — each foramen, suture, and serration brought back to the fidelity of the original specimen.
Patination
Hand-patinated and sealed to the tone you choose — pale bone, fossil-dark, or a bespoke finish matched to the room.
Delivery & installation
Crated, delivered, installed, and lit in place by our team — anywhere in the world, floor-standing, wall-mounted, or suspended.
What “museum-grade” actually means.
Not a marketing word. It is a set of measurable commitments — to material, to fidelity, and to permanence — that we hold on every commission, large or small.
- Material
- Hand-finished resin & fibreglass composite
- Source
- Cast from accessioned originals, under licence
- Fidelity
- Faithful to sub-millimetre
- Finish
- Hand-patinated & sealed
- Mounting
- Engineered for floor, wall & suspended
- Edition
- Capped — each cast numbered and recorded in the OSSA Register
Every OSSA piece is a cast — a faithful reproduction in resin. We never sell, trade, or deal in real fossils or excavated material.
This is a matter of principle and of law. Genuine fossils are scientific and cultural heritage, frequently protected by the export and antiquities laws of their country of origin; their private trade can deprive science and the public of irreplaceable specimens. Working only in casts is what protects that heritage — and, not incidentally, what makes a forty-foot skeleton in a private home possible at all.
Delivered, installed, lit.
Survey
We assess the space, the structure, and the sightlines — and prepare a staged render before anything is cast.
Install
Our team crates, ships, and installs — floor-standing, plinth, vitrine, or suspended — to gallery tolerances.
Light
A piece is only as present as its light. We specify and place the lighting so the cast reads as it should.