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PRESS RELEASE
Facelift for Statue of King George on Horseback
The monumental bronze equestrian statue of King George I that stands in front of the Barber Institute, at the East Gate and next to Edgbaston Park Road, has just undergone a major cleaning and conservation programme. Scaffolding towers were erected on either side for a week, and the sculpture and its sandstone plinth have now been jet-washed.
While the statue itself is made of bronze, the familiar dark-brown colour mottled with green was not actually the result of a natural bronze finish, patinated by oxidization. The sculpture’s surface has in fact been overpainted repeatedly in a brownish 'bronze' colour, then, using a sponge, mottled with green paint to represent the patina, before being coated in a wax varnish. This was probably originally done to disguise the joins in the bronze where different parts of the statue were reattached when the statue was restored.
SInce the statue was last cleaned and conserved in 1993, the wax varnish applied as protection against weathering had largely disappeared, leaving some cracking and flaking of paintwork, particularly in join areas such as around the saddle rug. These have now been retouched and the whole statue repainted — although this time omitting the green ‘patina’ – before the application of a new layer of varnish. The work has been carried out by Melvyn Rodda and Sally Bowling of Rupert Harris Conservators.
The statue of George I, commissioned from the workshop of John Nost the Elder in 1717, is the oldest piece of public sculpture in Birmingham. Originally set up in 1722 on the Essex Bridge, near the Custom House Quay in Dublin, it later stood in the gardens of Dublin Mansion House. It was rescued from oblivion and indeed almost certain destruction by the Barber’s first Director, Professor Thomas Bodkin. Formerly Director of the National Gallery of Ireland, he was aware of its dilapidated state, and negotiated its purchase by the Henry Barber Trust for £500. In 1937 it was erected as an ‘eye-catcher’ on a plinth specially designed by Robert Atkinson, the architect of the Barber — two years before the building itself was completed.
28 July 2008
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| For further information, please contact Andrew Davies, Barber Press and Marketing Officer, on 0121 414 2946 or andrewdavies@barber.org.uk |