If you live in the States, you could go to your local university. I'm sure there are plenty of college art students who would be happy to do either a cast (slip cast in porcelain) or sculpture (metal or ceramic/stone plaster) to your specifications for a small fee (to cover the cost of materials and a few beers/bag). Art students to hit up would be metal/ceramic/pottery or jewelry disciplines.
When I was an art student, I did plenty of small ceramic/porcelain commissions.
That actually is a pretty smart (and most likely, cheap) idea.