Exterior gilding is hit and miss in April, rain showers come as quickly as they leave. We usually wait for steady weather when exterior gilding but in this case St. Nicholas (Nicholas The Wonderworker) Church on Ferry Road, Oxford was hopeful that this work would be carried out in time for their Easter celebrations on the 5th of May and, as ever, we aim to please, so we sheltered from the wind and rain, as and when to make this happen.

 

The fascia of the external porch has hand carved text reading: MY HOUSE SHALL BE CALLED THE HOUSE OF PRAYER FOR ALL NATIONS.  The uprights have decorative designs carved into them. The porch had been added around 14 years ago and the glazing in the porch has been added quite recently for security reasons. Since the porch had be erected the wooden fascia has weathered and the lettering was difficult to read.

 

The gilding married with the existing exterior well, it produced an end result that allowed the lettering to be conveyed effectively whilst complimenting the existing aesthetic.

We always warmly welcome people who are interested in our work. Churches, places of worship hold a special significance in this respect. On this occasion we welcomed Sam Lockwood (top left) onto the scaffold. Sam, who is part of the congregation at St. Nicholas, has experience in icon gilding and wanted to learn and see how exterior gilding in a situation like this was carried out. So thank you Sam for all your help and enthusiasm.

An Interesting Aside

The fourth-century Christian Saint Nicholas, is also known as, ‘Nicholas the Wonderworker’. This appellation is due to his legendary habit of secret gift-giving which gave rise to the traditional paradigm of Sinterklaas, or Santa Claus.