How Silver Sculptures Can Increase in Value: Real Examples
The basics of how silver sculptures increase in value
In what follows I would like to show which factors have a positive influence on the development in value of silver sculptures.
The secure floor: the silver value
In recent years the silver price has shown a changeable development, but in 2025 it experienced a marked upswing. According to gold.de the price per kilo of silver in 2011 was 1,000.70 euros, which put the material value of 8 kg of silver at 8,005.60 euros. In the years that followed there were at times marked declines: in 2015 the value of 8 kg of silver was only 4,439.52 euros, and in 2018 the low point was reached at 4,054.16 euros.
Since then the silver price has been rising markedly again and is increasingly proving to be an attractive investment. In 2024 the material value for 8 kg of silver already stood at 7,783.36 euros, and the dynamic development in 2025 led to a value of 13,585.44 euros (as at 21 November 2025).
Looking at silver art, it becomes clear that silver as an asset offers a high degree of transparency. As a valuable precious metal, its material value remains significant in the long run and thus represents a clear advantage over works of art that possess no intrinsic material value.
The additional lever: artistic value
Artistic value represents a lever for increasing value which, although it does not rest on reliable factors, can nonetheless contribute considerably to a positive development in value. The smaller the edition of a silver artwork, the greater the potential for an increase in value.
What matters over time is how the artist develops and what reputation they build up. As recognition grows, the value of each of their works usually rises as well. A further essential point is the limited edition. Once the edition has sold out, the mould is destroyed – so no further copy of that sculpture can be cast.
The BullionArt calculation
At BullionArt there is no standardised formula for calculating the price of a sculpture. The basis is always the current silver price, with the rule of thumb that the selling price of a sculpture may amount to at most twice the pure silver value. If a sculpture weighs 5 kg, for example, then at a silver value of 8,490.90 euros (21 November 2025) the maximum selling price works out at 16,981.80 euros.
Besides the silver price, further factors feed into the pricing:
- Artists’ fees, which vary in size depending on how well known the artist is.
- The complexity of the casting, since certain sculptures require considerably more work.
Compared with jewellery, which frequently carries mark-ups of between 400 and 800 per cent, the price structure of silver sculptures is considerably more transparent and comes with noticeably more moderate mark-ups.
Increases in value with silver sculptures: concrete examples
The development in value of silver sculptures can be followed particularly well through concrete examples. A few selected works are set out below.
“Der Kuss” by Pierre-Paul Maillé
“Der Kuss” by Pierre-Paul Maillé is a work of art from 2008 and was produced in an edition of nine pieces. The Canadian artist, who lives in Berlin, gained wider recognition through the abstract painting “Je me souviens” (“I remember”) at the East Side Gallery Berlin.
The silver sculpture “Der Kuss” is now sold out at BullionArt and, because of its rarity and the risen silver price, has recorded a considerable increase in value in recent years. The work first sold in 2008 for 2,800 euros; in 2011 the price already stood at 3,800 euros and in 2012 at 3,900 euros. Because of the higher artists’ fees combined with the higher silver price, an investment of around 6,200 euros would have to be reckoned with today.
“Schlafvogel” from the Mogambo Guru series
A look at another work of art by BullionArt is particularly interesting: the “Schlafvogel” from the Mogambo Guru series. With only 18 pieces worldwide, this sculpture too is strictly limited; 4.3 kg of fine silver went into it. In 2005 the first Schlafvogel was offered for 2,400 euros, in 2009 the price was around 3,200 euros, and the last available piece sold in 2013 for 4,800 euros. Taking into account the current silver price and the risen casting costs, today’s price would be over 10,000 euros.
Marc Quinn: “Cybernetically Engineered, Cloned and Nanonised Rabbit”
The British artist Marc Quinn provides an impressive example of the strong development in value of silver sculptures. The silver edition of the small rabbit “Cybernetically Engineered, Cloned and Nanonised Rabbit” from 2005 was still valued at only around one hundred pounds in early auctions. Quinn increased his profile among other things through the statue of Alison Lapper, which was displayed on the fourth plinth in Trafalgar Square in 2007. Today the work achieves prices of over 30,000 pounds. This clearly shows how far the artistic value can detach itself from the pure material value of the silver.
Frederic Remington “Bronco Buster” (1989)
This sculpture was cast at the Maiden Foundry and is based on a mould made after Frederic Remington’s “Bronco Buster” from the collection of the Frederic Remington Art Museum. At auction the work achieved a price of over 32,000 dollars, well above the pure melt value. Here it becomes apparent how material value and artistic presence combine into a market price of their own.
Group of four silver figures (Bartolomeo Borroni) (1787)
The silver sculptures of the Virgin Mary, Saint Joseph, Saint Anne and Saint Joachim consist of 2.3 kilograms of silver in total. The work by an 18th-century artist was offered at auction with a catalogue price of 50,000 to 80,000 euros. The estimated value is thus many times higher than the pure material value of the sculptures.
Scenarios for an increase in the value of silver sculptures
With an investment in art, and in silver sculptures in particular, various developments are possible. Whether such an investment proves worthwhile over the years ultimately depends on a large number of relevant influencing factors.
Best-case scenario
In the best case the investment turns into a real stroke of luck, because all the relevant factors work in its favour. After the sculpture has been acquired, the artist gains considerably in popularity and attracts international attention. Their works meet with high demand, and the edition is completely sold out. The combination of a limited edition, the artist’s growing recognition and a steadily rising silver price forms the best-case scenario for an increase in value. One example is the Schlafvogel, which sold in 2005 for 2,400 euros and twenty years later reaches a value of over 10,000 euros.
Middle scenario
Even where things turn out less than optimally, the investment can prove worthwhile in the long run. The development in the value of the sculpture is guided primarily by the silver price, while the artistic value not only remains a matter of appreciation but is usually stable or rises further as the artist becomes better known. In view of the development of the silver price in recent years, the investment can realistically be assessed at an annual return of two to three per cent. Looking back, an increase in value of around 30 per cent over the last ten years would even have been plausible on the basis of the silver price alone.
Worst-case scenario
In the least favourable case of an investment in a silver sculpture, the silver price falls or at least remains unchanged over a longer period. Even then the material value offers a solid basis which, going by the experience of recent years, only rarely loses significant value. So even without any growth in artistic value, the buyer has the option, should things develop unfavourably, of at least selling the sculpture at the current silver price.