Most folks are not really familiar with bronze clad bookends so here’s a little background information. Prior to 1914 just about all high-end sculptural artwork was solid bronze.  About that time a company named Kathodian Bronze Works began manufacturing small sculptural artwork such as bookends (back then they were called “book rocks”) and statuary using a process imported from Europe around the turn of the century known as electroplating or electroforming.  A plaster mold was made and then it was covered with graphite to allow copper or bronze to be electroplated on top of it. It was a very time-consuming process and several companies went one step further by painting the bookends in a very colorful fashion. This was a time-consuming and expensive manufacturing process by the early 1930s most manufacturers had exited the business.


Kathodian Bronze, Armor Bronze, Pompeian Bronze, Marion Bronze and Galvano Bronze were significant manufacturers of statuary book ends in the first part of the 20th century.