![]() ![]() It may seem like superheated water or high-pressure cleaning may be an obvious option for this type of vandalism, but the fragility of the patina made this route a concern. The aim of bronze conservation is always to leave as much of the original patina intact as possible.Īnother difficulty was that the surface was highly detailed meaning that many of the tiny splashes were located deep inside small grooves making them hard to excavate. Vandalism of Bomber Command War Memorial, Green Park Although much of the paint had been taken off in the initial clean, thousands of smaller splashes remained. Removing the remnants of white paint from the bronze’s surface was not an easy task. It was then that the RAF Benevolent Fund was advised that a monument cleaning service specialising in conservation should take on the due to complexities of working on bronze. Hours after the monument was vandalised, an emergency clean was undertaken. The average age of those killed was 23 years old. Bomber command crews came from 60 different countries. Of the 125k men who served, half lost their lives. Several of the visitors had interesting facts to tell us about the Bomber Command unit which was instrumental in winning World War II. We enjoyed many conversations with the public who came to visit the memorial during our works. It’s easy to see why: the artist has personified bravery, comradeship and patriotism in the stance of his figures, their detail and expressions. The monument is a magnificent creation by sculptor, Philip Jackson, who won the Marsh Award in Public Sculpture for his work. That means that cleaning bronze statues regularly helps to keep the protection viable for longer.Ĭleaning of this iconic War Memorial and restoration was necessary after white gloss paint was thrown over The Bomber Command War Memorial in Green Park earlier this year.Ĭonservation work by Antique Bronze took place some weeks later after the memorial was initially hit. Keeping a bronze statue clean is not only about presenting the statue as cared for, it is about lowering the rate of breakdown of the bronze’s protective coating. ![]() It should be about preserving the bronze’s surface, not removing it.Ĭleaning bronze statues should never involve applying acids or alkalis to the surface of a bronze – even if it is natural (no lemons or vinegar!) It never involves polishing them up so that they are gleaming (with some brasso and elbow grease). It also prevents the breakdown of the protective coating in localised areas.Ĭleaning bronze statues does not mean removing the patina on a statue’s surface – contrary to what some may lead you to believe on YouTube. That is a dry cleaning system where detritus, dirt, cobwebs and guano are brushed away gently between maintenance cleans so that the statue is presented as cared for between its more thorough cleans. Methods such as cleaning with super-heated water or solvent cleaning are used in this type of cleaning.Īnother valable technique is spot-cleaning. This is more common during restoration work when a protective coating has failed or a coating has been added, at some point in the statue’s history, to disguise the true condition of a bronze’s surface. This can also be termed cleaning, but does not typically happen during a maintenance clean. The word maintenance clean means that you are cleaning the bronze in order to maintain the protective coating.Īpart from maintenance cleaning, sometimes it is necessary to fully remove an existing protective coating. The result will be that corrosion forms.Ī maintenance clean does not mean cleaning the statue so that it looks precisely as it did when it was first created. If dirt and pollutants which inevitably settle on a bronze are not frequently removed, they will compromise the protective coating and prevent it working effectively. This is more than just cleaning but is absolutely essential for the long term care of a bronze sculpture. This is carried out by hand and not only involves the removal of dirt, grease, grime and guano but is followed up by the application of a protective coating. In simple terms, this just means as a way to prevent the kind of decline that bronzes are prone to in outdoor, and often indoor, environments.Īll bronze statues should have a maintenance clean periodically. It’s the first stage in an essential process that should be carried out as part of a preventive conservation regime. C leaning bronze statues is the established way to prevent degradation of your sculptures. We aren’t saying that just because that’s what we do, but because it’s best practise. HOW FREQUENTLY SHOULD BRONZE STATUES BE CLEANED?įrequently! How did you guess we’d say that? ![]()
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