BESPOKE CONSERVATION PLANS FOR HISTORIC AND CONTEMPORARY SCULPTURE
Contemporary sculpture in a private gallery or a historic bronze statue in a public square has different conservation needs. Just because they are both bronze doesn’t mean their care will be the same.
Often, artists and those who fabricate their sculpture, while expert at their execution, are less familiar with how the materials will age. Whereas, this is where we excel.
If a particular material is degrading rapidly, we will investigate the root cause and consider whether the original material used has been a suitable choice or whether external factors have unduly affected its stability. In some instances, we may have products tailor-made to suit the object’s precise needs. Whenever possible, we involve the artist in conservation solutions aiming to respect their vision of the object.
We can survey, analyse, report and advise on the condition of contemporary sculpture. We encourage clients to draw up a preventive conservation plan with us in order to minimising the impact of the public, the environment and the setting on the object.
If you’d like to take a look at a case study of a statue repair, you should read about the statue repair we undertook on the Tomas Bata monument or take a look at our news page and see our work on Althea Wynne’s magnificent trio of horses in the City of London.
Sculpture Conservation: The Conqueror by Wendy Taylor CBE conservation of original patina and ongoing maintenance
Here are Just Some on The Hundreds of Sculpture Conservation Projects That We Have Worked On
• Althea Wynne, Trio of Horses
• Philip Jackson, Bowls
• Bruce McLean, Sculptural Railings
• Jon Buck, Returning to Embrace
• Jeff Bell, Cast Lead Crystal
• Giuseppe Lund, Gates
• Hazel Reeves, Emmeline Pankhurst
.• Henry Moore, Locking Piece
.• Henry Moore, Drape Seated Woman
.• Henry Moore, Two Piece Reclining Figure No 3
• Igor Mitoraj, Centuro
• Ron Arad, Big Blue
• Ron Arad, Windwand
• Do Vassalakis Konig, Sasso Cosmico
• Howard Ben Tre, The Guardians
• Philip King, Angle Poise
• Lynn Chadwick, Couple on a Seat
• Giles Penny, Man with Arms Open
• Giles Penny, Two Men on A Bench
• Keith Rand, Original Form
• Kate Hackney, Willoughby Passage Gate
• Wendy Ramshaw, Columbus Screen
• Igor Mitoraj, Centurione I
• Tatiana Orloff, Planters
• Charles Hadcock, Torsion II
• Charles Hadcock, Helisphere
• Eilis O’Connell, Sacraficial Anode
• Michael Lyons, Unity of Opposites: Vortex
• Igor Mitoraj, Testa Addormentata
• Helaine Blumenfeld, Fortuna
• Helaine Blumenfeld, Metamorphosis
• Bob Allan, It Takes Two
• Barbara Hepworth, River Form
• Nigel Ross, Cross Way & Arbor
• Suresh Dutt, Drawing Cube
• Hugh Chapman, Growth Form
• Marta Pan, Fragments of a Landscape
• Lynn Chadwick, Couple On A Seat
• Allen Jones, Gymnast
• Allen Jones, Backbend
• Wallenberg Memorial, Philip Jackson
• Wendy Taylor, Conquerer
• Wendy Taylor, Opus
• Wendy Taylor, Rope Pieces
• Wendy Taylor, Voyage
• Mike Speller, Momentum III
Tell Us About Your Bronze Sculpture Conservation Project
Get In TouchCase Study: Althea Wynne’s WYNNE’s Monumental Bronze Horses ‘Sterling, Dollar and Yen’ Sculpture Conservation
London is not short of dramatic horse sculpture. From the rearing fury of Piccadilly’s Horses of Helios Fountain, to the tenacious bravery of Boadicea’s horses which pull her chariot, but Althea Wynne’s magnificent trio in the City of London must be acknowledged as among the best of the best.
Althea created these site specific sculptures for Minster Court when it was built in the early 1990’s. A love of horses and an ability to translate their innate beauty in bronze made her the perfect choice for this commission. As a nod to the financial district they belong to, they are affectionately known as Sterling, Dollar and Yen.
The aim of the conservation work was to prevent the further loss of original patina much of which had been damaged due to the harsh urban environment which contains many pollutants which cause the corrosion and degradation of bronze.
We have worked with many artists to ensure their works survives long into the future including some of the Greats like Henry Moore, Barbara Hepworth and Wendy Taylor.
As well as liaising with the owner of a bronze, the preliminary stages of any sculpture conservation should always involve contacting the artist and consulting with them. Sadly, in this case, this wasn’t possible as Althea Wynne died tragically in a car accident with her husband in 2012 while working on another equestrian commission for Windsor Great Park.
The project started out with conserving what patina we could salvage and then progressed to treating areas of disfiguring corrosion. We were able to blend out areas where weathering had caused unsightly marks to form on the surface. Repatination work was necessary in areas where the original patina had failed and we used the surviving patina to match the colour as closely as possible. The final stage of the works involved the application of a protective coating applied hot. This not only protects the surface of the bronze but also gave the statues a lustrous surface.
The approach to this sculpture conservation project is discussed in our course, Bronze Behaving Badly, Principles of Bronze Conservation.
BRONZE MONUMENTS
SCULPTURE RESTORATION
