Ormolu /ˈɔːrməluː/ (from French or moulu, signifying ground or pounded gold) is an English term, used since the 18th century for the technique of applying finely ground, high-carat gold–mercury amalgam to an object of bronze, and for objects finished in this way.
The most Common damages/problems with ormolu that we deal with:
-A broken off piece or a failing restoration.
We first make the decision to do a hot or cold repair. This is based on the surrounding areas i.e. patina/ type of gold plating technique originally used.
-A missing piece.
Will reproduce, plate if necessary and Patina.
-Cleaning to restore luster and remove foreign materials such as leftover polish for example.
We usually clean with conservation detergents or in a ultrasound bath. The results are fantastic. One must be extremely careful when mechanically cleaning the gold finish on ormolu as this is easily damaged.
-A bent element.
Usually with ormolu the first distortion doesn't break. One must be very careful re-positioning these as the material and the bent area is more brittle. One way to skirt this problem is to properly anneal the bronze.
Stone
[stohn]
noun, plural stones
1. The hard substance, formed of mineral matter, of which rocks consist.
2. A piece of rock quarried and worked into a specific size and shape for a particular purpose.
I do quite a bit of stone repair in my shop.
Common problems-
-Grimy surface.
We tend to use neutral pH conservation detergents when cleaning all stone.
-Broken piece.
Depending on the type of break and the strength needed, a pin or other armatures are sometimes used. If it's an outdoor piece a stainless steal will be used. Breaks are usually glued up using a non-yellowing adhesive after it's been altered in color and translucency. I use a handful of different products / techniques, choosing which one depends on what the situation is.
-Chips, losses.
These are filled with non-yellowing translucent materials followed by shaping and finishing of the surface. Sometimes the appropriate aggregate is added.
-Larger missing sections such as fingers for example.
Depending on the budget an imitation material can be used that mimics the color and translucency of that particular stone or better yet the piece is carved out of the same material in marble then reattached.
The use of different materials such as plastic and wood, glass and stone etc.
Regarding this category anything goes. We can address combinations of materials with different solutions for each.
Polychrome is the "practice of decorating architectural elements, sculpture, etc., in a variety of colors."
The majority of the polychromed sculpture that I work on (but not limited to) is medieval.
Most common types of jobs done are the following:
-Consolidating the polychrome.
Usually these pieces have gone through fluctuations in there moisture content causing the wood to shrink or swell. The problem is the polychrome surface does not exactly follow this fluctuation hence becomes unstable.
I stabilize these by wicking the proper adhesive beneath the unstable surface. This is usually followed by filling areas of lost material and in painting only on the fill. Great care is taken to not cover the original polychrome services as well as use reversible materials when necessary.
-Cleaning the surface.
This is done with proper conservation detergents.
-Repairing areas that distract from the overall look of the piece.
[ahy-vuh-ree, ahy-vree]
noun, plural ivories.
A hard white substance, a variety of dentin, composing the main part of the tusks of the elephant, walrus, etc.
When it comes to ivory the majority of my work is either re-attaching a broken off piece properly or re-carving a piece that has been broken off and is missing.
A word of caution, should you have a broken piece do not touch the broken edges. These need to stay as clean and complete as possible to provide you with the best results in terms of repair.
Ivory is like marble meaning it's translucent. Some people paint to conceal the repairs. I avoid this at all costs. The proper glue up with a clean break tends to be the best remedy. Regarding carving missing pieces, I use real ivory from ivory that I've collected over the years that has been salvaged from antiques.
Coade stone or Lithodipyra (Ancient Greek (λίθος/δίς/πυρά), "stone fired twice") was stoneware that was often described as an artificial stone in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.
Coade stone was generally used for outdoor garden statuary.
- Word of caution, if you have garden statuary outdoors made of this material it should be covered during the winter months. This material is very porous and draws in water. The material gets wet and then freezes (expands) hence breaking the object in one fashion or another.
I mention this because a lot of my repairs deal with these types of damages. Because these pieces are outdoors and have to deal with extreme temperature fluctuations, as well as UV from the sun restoration materials and techniques need to be thought out well.
I commonly repair breaks, cracks and reproduce missing areas.
The majority of the homes that this applies to are new structures or newly renovated floors with antique fireplaces installed or the maintenance of existing ones.
A lot of times it's not until the fireplace is installed that damages or sloppy grout is noticed. Fireplaces look so much nicer when the transitions for marble to the floor as well as the wall they're up against is clean and sharp.
The majority of the cast iron pieces I've worked on have been large sculptures though I have also worked on benches and garden statuary made of cast-iron.
The work involved is usually dealing with a failing finish. After choosing the appropriate medium for air blasting I blast the old paint and rust off. Special attention must be paid as not to profile the surface. This is followed by a chemical treatment to stabilize / convert any rust that's in fine cracks etc.
After the paint sample is chosen, I use high-quality paint. My end finish will last roughly 20 years if not more. It's all in the surface preparation.
There also tends to be broken or cracked cast iron that needs to be repaired which in itself is very tricky due to the nature of cast iron.
Terracotta, terra cotta or terra-cotta (pronounced [ˌtɛrraˈkɔtta]; Italian: "baked earth",[2] from the Latin terra cocta),[3] a type of earthenware, is a clay-based unglazed or glazed ceramic,[4] where the fired body is porous. Terracotta is the term normally used for sculpture made in earthenware,
Due to the nature of the surface of terra-cotta they tend to get dirty easily. Also there's the obvious breaks/missing fingers etc.
The types of repairs I do with these tends to be cleaning, fabricating missing pieces as well as repairing breaks. Due to the porosity and tooth of the surface, glue-ups must be done very carefully as excess glue can create a lot more work.
A metal (from Greek μέταλλον métallon, "mine, quarry, metal"[1][2]) is a material (an element, compound, or alloy) that is typically hard, opaque, shiny, and has good electrical and thermal conductivity.
The types of metal we work on are the following:
Bronze, steel, stainless steel, cast iron, lead, pot metal, silver and gold.
Work involved is the typical breaks, bends, losses, surface damages and patina work etc.
[fab-ri-key-shuh n]
noun
1. the act or process of fabricating; manufacture.
Sometimes we need to fabricate a missing piece.
This may be something as small as a key to a medieval lockbox, or something larger like a aluminum armature to support a large Line Vatrine mirror. We've fabricated the oddest of things over the history of 25 years.
This type of work involves the repair of unusual decorative surfaces, be it a faux finish or an applied decorative material finish.
I'm very comfortable with repairing / mimicking most surfaces.
Though I could do it, I am not talking about a scratch in the center of a large lacquered panel. I'm referring to those more unusual surfaces.
Any period before the Middle Ages (476–1453), but still within the period of Western civilization-based human history or prehistory. The term is most often used of Classical antiquity, the classical civilizations of the Mediterranean, especially Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome.
The work I do with these tends to be more of the conservation approach.
Common things that I do are removing soil while protecting the patina, cold repairs, treating bronze disease etc.
