Can you post a picture of the statue?

“The concrete base would come into contact with wet soil and erode over time.” That doesn’t seem likely to me. How would that concrete be any different from the zillions of basements that are made of concrete?

Instead of a solid concrete pedestal, what about using something more like concrete piers or filled concrete blocks? Now, this might not work if the statue has a narrow base, but I thought I'd toss the idea out there, anyway. :-D

This is a photo of the statue. The horrible paint job is being stripped off.

@littlebug the comparison to a concrete foundation is a good one, however there are key differences:

1) the foundation has rebar

2) the foundation has drainage all around it

I used to work in a concrete building where one corner of the outside area flooded in winter without proper drainage. The entire concrete foundation and sidewall of the building started to leak water and crack extensively, which finally forced the hand of the building owner to put in a french drain.

As long as my soil is fast-draining soil I can probably not worry. But if you have poor drainage in contact with concrete, you have a problem no matter whether it is a pedestal or a concrete building.

@One Devoted Dame It would help if you could post links to the products you are thinking of.

@Yardvaark Good point on bridge concrete. Is that a special kind of concrete mix or preparation for underwater use? I wonder why the building I described earlier cracked so easily and absorbed water like a sponge?

A 5-gallon bucket as a form for concrete might work. Does anyone sell plastic forms in different shapes and sizes?

Does anyone sell prefabricated rebar or other reinforcement structures that I could slip into the concrete form?

You know. People cannot go around dressed like that any more ...!! :-0 Oh, the good ol' days. :-)

I think the building concrete would have been inferior concrete.

There are all kinds of buckets, pails, containers and probably some mixing and matching is possible.

All rebar is prefabricated. No one makes their own at home any more. :-) There is also welded wire mesh. For a little project, the former can be cut easily with a hack saw. Cut half-way though and bend back and forth. The latter can be cut the same way but is really easy. But for a sunken pedestal on which no there are no forces other than gravity and compression being applied, I deem reinforcement unnecessary. It's good for when trauma will be applied to concrete.

It would help if you could post links to the products you are thinking of.

I was thinking of, basically, a tiny pier & beam foundation as the first option, or a concrete block foundation (like for mobile homes) as the second option. There aren't any specific premade products that I was thinking of; this was entirely DIY stuff, using either concrete forms (or a post hole digger, like for installing a child's swingset or fence posts), or concrete & rebar filled concrete blocks.

Unfortunately, I don't think either of those would work well with your statue, because it needs a single pedestal. For some reason, my brain imagined something with a wider base, before the photo was posted. :-)

I'd just use concrete block(s) as the base.

How about a piece of PVC pipe of an appropriate size (maybe 12" diameter) set on end, with a 16" x 16" paver on the ground and an appropriate size paver on top (or could it rest directly on the pipe ?). The soil would keep it firmly in place.

Does height of the statue matter?

I think the harder part would be how you plan to keep it from moving and falling over in an earthquake.

This seriously isn’t as complicated as you are making it out to be. You dig down below frost level, or at least 12” in a frost free location. Back fill with 3”-4” of gravel and tamp. Use a piece of 1x12” oiled with cooking oil to build the form above soil level. Use a level to be sure it is. Add in a couple of pieces of rebar, wire tied together. Throw in some wire mesh from your neighbor’s chicken coop. Then mix concrete in your wheelbarrow. Place it in the hole, and use your palm sander to vibrate the form a bit. Allow to firm up. Remove the form and bevel the edges slightly to create water run off. Wait a week, plop the statue down.