about
Early in his existence man transformed the gifts of nature and created objects in his own image. Man’s imagination and creativity led him to shape vases and clay pots, he decorated temples and churches with bronze statues and used glass jewels ornaments to seduce.
All over the world, on the banks of the Tigris and Euphrates, from the Nile through China and the Indies, the techniques have improved and brought unique masterpieces to life. This know-how has been passed down from generation to generation to the present day.
Today, artists still shape hand-blown glass artwork, craftsmen hand shape and polish BULL & STEIN bronze apples, cultivating a thousand-year old tradition.
BULL & STEIN sustains this heritage, travelling the world, searching for craftsmen who perpetuate traditional, ancestral techniques: Artists able to express feelings that reach the heart of the child in us – masters in their field, who look for beauty and purity that can touch the soul and set our senses in motion – Sculptors who leave the imprint of their fingers on their artwork, such a signature – making them unique.
BULL & STEIN calls on and commissions the best factories in Brasil, Portugal, India and Hungary – centres of traditional craftsmanship.
Welcome to BULL & STEIN’S world
who we are
Lisa Pappon — Germany | Brazil
Exclusively for BULL & STEIN, Lisa Pappon, artist and designer from São Paulo / Brazil, creates inimitable ceramic apple sculptures as a universal symbol reflecting desire and voluptuousness. The artist utilizes nature’s gifts such as clay, organic pigments and precious stones, gold or silver. She reinterprets nature’s mystic fruit in oversized exaggerated ceramic apple sculptures up to 180 cm in diametre (70 inch). In her work, Lisa Pappon has long sought an icon that unites all peoples regardless of their origin. The apple is a symbol that spans the globe and has recurred in the most remote and diverse cultures for millennia. Lisa Pappon has realized her cultural vision in the form of giant ceramic apple sculptures. Lisa Pappon lives and works in São Paulo, Brazil. Lisa Pappon continuously develops her beguiling ceramic apple sculptures with love and perfection.
Marcus Bull — Brazil | Germany
Born 1964 in São Paulo, Brazil. Marcus lives and works in Porto, Portugal. By founder and CEO Marcus Bull, Brazilian-German. The main idea of the fruit sculptures BULL & STEIN: «It is the big - exaggerated size that interests us, in order to make the spectators stunned: To surprise, to move, to impress, to captivate them and to highlight the natural beauty. To enrich everyday life, often urban to reconnect people with nature and bring them back to the earth, and at the same time to find a global language which communicates to all social classes, religions, cultures, ages and origins, which therefore connects people to the world through a simple and understandable symbolism which carries the innocent joy of living. »
Markus Weigel
Germany
Bruno Monteiro
Portugal
Vadim César
Cuba
Paulo Terra
Brazil
atelier & WORKSHOP
how it began
BULL & STEIN, a distinguished German-Brazilian collaboration, was founded in São Paulo by Cynthia Stein and Marcus Bull in 2002. For more than 20 years, the brand has been known for outstanding design, handmade objects, and international distribution of oversized fruit sculptures, crafted with the highest standard of premium quality. Shortly after the global launch of BULL & STEIN, the talented Brazilian artist and designer Lisa Pappon joined the company, creating her exclusive collection of fruit sculptures, some reaching up to 2 metres in height and diameter, designed solely for the brand.
Marcus Bull’s passion for art and sculpture perfectly complements Lisa Pappon’s relentless pursuit of innovative forms, techniques, and refined finishes. Together, the creative team at BULL & STEIN has established an exotic and daring collection that has swiftly captured international markets.
Focused on the creation of iconic concepts, BULL & STEIN collaborates with renowned decorators, architects, and artists worldwide, offering an impressive range of materials, including porcelain, ceramic, blown glass, cast bronze, and fibre-resin.
BULL & STEIN is a registered trademark, and only its original sculptures bear the exclusive authenticity seal of the brand, ensuring their origin and unparalleled originality.
Relocating from Germany to Portugal
In 2021, following the consolidation of almost all BULL & STEIN fruit sculpture production in Portugal - spanning ceramic, porcelain, hand-blown glass, foundry bronze and marfinite (mineral composite) - the team established a new company in Porto and transferred its offices there. This strategic step brought design, manufacture, administration and distribution into closer alignment.
The newly formed company, BULL & STEIN by FFCR - Fábrica de Faianças das Caldas da Rainha, Lda. assumed stewardship of the brand in 2021. With nearly 25 years’ experience, BULL & STEIN is today a trusted partner within the international art and design community, active across five continents. An unwavering commitment to quality, innovation and client satisfaction has established the brand as a preferred choice among discerning collectors and professionals alike.
We invite you to accompany us on our continuing journey of exploration, challenge and refinement.
history & spiritual symbolism of every fruit
The apple, symbol of the Earth, of life itself, of knowledge and of sensuality, Ishtar’s pome, fruit of the Hesperides and of Avalon, has expressed emotion, inspiration and ideas since the dawn of time. A reward to the beautiful and the heroic, a badge of authority and a source of magic, myriad cultures have associated these attributes with the apple and as such the fruit has adorned human art throughout the ages.
BULL & STEIN, too, have taken this food of mind and body as the inspiration for their ceramic apple sculptures. Shimmering glaze, heady lapis lazuli, the lustre of gold and elegance of silver evoke the ceramic fruit’s natural beauty in an untold way.
BULL & STEIN ceramic apple sculptures today enrich art collections and museums or simply beautiful spaces in all corners of the globe.
innovation meets tradition
key features
A wide selection of fruit sculptures in various sizes and materials
Bespoke art and installations to suit your unique preferences
Cutting-edge designs that blend tradition with modernity
Premium materials and skilled craftsmanship
Durable and Weather-Resistant Ideal for both indoor and outdoor use
Add a touch of urban flair with graffiti-inspired designs
Please note that BULL & STEIN sculptures are handmade of natural material such as clay, organic pigment or metal and are hence unique. Every sculpture has its own character and may vary from the printed image. Look out for the original BULL & STEIN cachet on every sculpture.
Foundation AClem - Crans Montana, Switzerland
AClem is a family foundation, established in 1999 by the Boscacci and supported by many Swiss and international private and corporate donations. AClem is operating for the benefit of disadvantaged children in the world. The foundation is active in Africa and Asia with its own projects, thanks to a committed team of volunteers.
The donation of a giant graffiti apple sculpture by BULL & STEIN for a Charity Auction at the Beaurivage Palace Hotel in Lausanne on November 11th, 2016 has brought the record amount of € 25.000 in favour of an orphanage in Uganda.
To become a donor, please contact us. Learn more and visit: www.aclem.ch