Smaug the Golden

Smaug™ the Golden is the first sculpture in John Howe’s and Weta’s range of sculptures from Middle-earth™. The sculpture is based on John’s original artwork created in 1990. It was first published on the cover of the paperback edition of The Hobbit by Grafton Books in 1991.

Having adorned the cover of The Hobbit, it is an instantly recognisable image to old and young Tolkien fans alike.

Smaug – the great dragon, at one with his cache and jealously guarding it against the world around him.

The Art of John Howe – Sculptures from Middle-earth™ is a series of sculptures from John’s iconic representations of Tolkien’s worlds, sculpted by Weta sculptors Daniel Cockersell, Brigitte Wuest and Eden Small under the creative guidance of John Howe and Richard Taylor.

This statue is cast in resin, a material that allows intricate detail, and painted as Faux Bronze.

The statue sits on a black marbled base also made from polystone. Some of the images show a wooden base, which is our original concept that we have since altered based on customer feedback. To see what the new base looks like, please see the examples depicting Éowyn and the Nazgûl in the second and third images above.

The polystone bases are cast using a process that creates a unique marbling effect for each piece.