 The following set of stations of the cross belong to a London Church. Father wanted them to look as beautiful as possible, but hold back on some areas where damage was minimum to retain their sense of age. I think this was the right approach, as the stations were new in 1858, and part of their beauty was in their age.  The figures which make up the tableaus, are beautifully carved, and originate from Belgium or Germany. As with many old church pieces their provenance has been lost with the passage of time. We restored the figures where paint had flaked, and replaced missing spears and clubs.  The spires and gilded acanthus leaves were broken, along with some of the crosses topping the frames. We found that the wooden frames had been more colourful, the tan brown which now predominated was not original, but a change made just after the war.   It appeared that when the stations has been restored in 1948, new back grounds had been added, perhaps the originals had deteriorated to such an extent that this was deemed necessary. The image below shows the crudity of this " new" addition compared to the attention given to the frames and figures.   When we visit various churches, parishioners often tell us how unhappy they are about the scenic element to their stations of the cross having been painted out altogether. We felt it important to address this problem, not only to restore some of the original integrity of the artworks, but also to enhance the story - telling aspect of the set. (That is the Catechetical element.) The following images show the eleventh and twelfth stations with backgrounds re-painted in th spirit of the originals.   
Above: Damaged processional statue after restoration .
A recent request to restore a statue of Our lady for a May procession, proved a bit more of a challenge than usual. The face had lost its shape beneath layers of paint. The broken hands sported broken thumbs which had been replaced with "plaster sausages."
The lining on the mantle was textured with old repairs resembling a gold-painted rock fall. The condition of this statue was rather poor, considering it for a decent burial seemed the kindest thing to do. However, the statue held memories for a number of parishioners, and so we did all we could to save it. In this particular case, old paint had to be removed to reveal the true nature and extent of any damage. This would ensure that repairs would be sound and thorough. The inner walls were strengthened and her face remodeled along with her thumbs. After many hours work, the statue looks good again, the surface of the gold mantle is smooth and her face pretty again -she will serve as a processional statue few more years yet!
Left: plastering over old paint makes for a poor repair, with low adhesion. It has made the thumb too large for the hand. 
A section of the statue wall, compared with a two pound coin. 
Reverse of the statue shows the split in thin plaster wall, and damage to the hands 
A cracked neck suggested that the face may have been damaged when the head had fallen off at an earlier date. Nose, mouth and eyelids had to be rebuilt.  This 40 inch plaster nativity set needed some TLC. It had become rather grubby and damaged with years of handling. As work began, we found a number of " shortcuts" had been taken in the past. The ends of this shepherds, bagpipes had broken, and the remaining stub painted over. The pipes were rather truncated and needed to be rebuilt.  So here are three stages of my re-building the missing "chanters" or pipes. (fig 1.) the proposed correction far left, (fig 2.) Supports fitted to rebuild the mouth of chanters and fingers, (fig 3.) Shaping the fingers to match the originals.  Essential RepairsPartial restoration requires that the restorer has to prioritise which areas need her attention most. Old repairs even if unsightly or poorly modeled, sometimes have to remain if they are sound. However, this king's crown was too prominent a feature to over look. Just as the bag pipes, the central point was broken and over painted in an attempt to disguise the break. It spoiled the king's regal appearance, and was a definite candidate for renewal! So here are the stages of correcting the old repair;- I'm sure you will agree that the appearance is much improved.
  Renewed pipesAnd so, let us return to the "pipe-less" shepherd... With the missing chanters re-built, The shepherd definitely appears to be playing a musical instrument - and not sucking orange juice through a large straw. The following images show the areas which were missing, and the completed repairs.  
.Masking tape covered the break in this shepherds neck. When it was removed, I could see that the neck had been misaligned at some time in the past.
realignment of the broken neck showed that the area to be repaired and filled were greater than first appeared. Support wires which should have been deeply embedded, were protruding through the surface.
From the reverse view, the neck and head had been poorly modeled; giving a " lollipop" appearance. As a consequence of the narrow neck, the head was also too narrow; improving the appearance would be somewhat limited. The average human head weighs around 5kg, and we have large muscle groups to support it. (as shown)  Re-modelling the shepherd's neckWhat had begun as a straightforward repair became more of a re-model. I decided to thicken the neck to make it look more natural, and add further supporting irons. This made the neck area stronger against future wear and tear, and make the statue more durable for my clients. With the right hand side of the neck corrected, the head needed a new ear to finish the job! As the modelling on the hands were simply done, I kept the modelling of the ear to the same style.
Below; The restored nativity shepherd admires his new neck and ear!  Now the shepherd can hear the angels sing " gloria" with his new ear! |
Jeanette Lewis
Liturgical artist/restorer. Bachelor of Art and Design, Catholic Blogger Welcome to our blog,
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