ALABASTER 'THE THREE GRACES'

ALABASTER SCULPTURE 'THE THREE GRACES'

This alabaster is of the three graces (after Canova), very beautiful piece but she's very dirty and the central figure has a finger missing on her left hand. There are a lot of striations in the alabaster giving it darker and lighter in places which also accentuates the sculptural forms.  It is very heavy to carry so I just managed to get her onto the table and I realised that newspaper was not a good idea as the base would pick up the newsprint ...... it's now on acid free tissue:

Now to make the missing finger - I decided to do this before I started cleaning the whole as I could remove the remainder of the moulding material in one go.  Normally I would use dental silicon (Coltene™), plus it's pink in colour and as alabaster stains easily so I didn't want to take that chance.  I thought I would try this silicon putty from Tiranti's to make the mould, it was a cream colour, quite sticky, although it advises you to wet your hands with water whilst manipulating to get the catalyst mixed in thoroughly. 40-70 minutes setting time, it was sticky and I worried that it wouldn't remove easily.  I did a test on the indented back of a tile (more absorbent than a stone surface) to see how it would cure. It made a very good impression and picked out amazing detail.

RTV Putty Silicon from Tiranti's - it worked well, good stuff for the job!

Now a question of what I'm going to use in the mould.  I think I will use special epoxy, fumed silica and historic pigments as I am now confident I can get the colour and transparency to replicate the alabaster.  To attach it may prove more problematic, I don't want to use epoxy to fix it on.  What I could do maybe is use some Paraloid B72 on the rough end prior to fixing with epoxy.  I'm still thinking about this..............

Tried two moulds on different hands to see which was the best

It took three tries before I got the right tint

Mmmmm not bad I'd say

 Will come back to this after cleaning the whole sculpture and do some research.

CLEANING THE ALABASTER

You cannot clean alabaster with water as it will dissolve, so very delicate.  I used white spirit (Stoddards) and de-ionised water with a small amount of detergent (Synperonic 7) to make it into and emulsion.  I knew about this from University and it worked well using a continuous stream of cotton swabs wound on a bamboo barbecue skewer.  To work quickly and to keep the dirt in one place it's a good idea to get a jam jar with a lid and make some holes in it with a bradall, this makes easy removal of the cotton swab from the stick as you work.

Amazing how much dirt comes off!!

As you turn the sculpture you see bits that you miss all the time! A process of continual observation.

Cleaned area on the lower back where you can see the difference

Getting lower down the back of the legs now, it's coming up really well

I will up-date this as I go so keep coming back to view.  Just before I'm publishing this I turned the sculpture on it's back and saw there is a smallish previous repair to the base with a loss so will deal with that tomorrow..........

Surprise!! broken base stuck with old fashioned epoxy

Am looking at this page from 1993 on the V&A web site about conservation of alabaster, some useful information V&A Alabaster Conservation Link

The finger is on, consolidated broken edge with PB72 in acetone and used special
epoxy/fumed silica tinted with historic pigments for the missing finger

Finger attached, didn't want to fiddle too much with it as the alabaster
scratches very easily so care had to be taken

After I had filled the base and given it a coat of Renaissance Microcrystalline wax she was ready to go on display.  The wax took out the unsightly marks in the alabaster on the legs in above photo. The client came to collect unannounced so I was unable to get a finishing shot......