Plowden & Smith

Plowden & Smith undertakes the conservation and restoration of interior and exterior marble and stone sculptures, objects and architectural structures.

Objects the department routinely handles include busts, statues, carvings, friezes, garden statuary and ornament, fireplaces, gazebos, follies, grottoes and scagliola. This work includes the consolidation of friable and broken surfaces, aesthetic restoration of damaged areas and the re-carving of missing areas in stone.

Plowden & Smith has additional larger workshop space specifically designed for monumental stone and marble objects.

Plowden & Smith make one-off quality replicas of marble and stone busts.

The limestone sculpture was received in generally good condition with minor chips to the plinth and figure plus some old small polyester resin repairs. Some surface areas were weathered and friable. There was a considerable amount of lichen and moss, and the surface was mostly covered with dirt causing some staining.
The statue was cleaned using a number of techniques including water and bristle brush washing, poulticing, steam cleaning and localised air abrasive cleaning.
Minor repairs were executed in a suitably coloured lime mortar and friable areas consolidated with synthetic resin.
Sculpture

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