All Mary statues are beautiful and possess a quiet serenity. When a statue of Mary arrives at the workshop She is often lacking her beauty and serenity. Typical issues that arise are missing or damaged digits and any other protruding parts, overpainting and damaged bases are also a common occurance. The most statues are plaster however, occasionally, we work on carved wood and stone. Below are two stylistically different case studies of large plaster statues. The first is a typical Our Lady of Lourdes plaster statue and then a stylised 1930’s plaster statue by Jos Henke. Following are a few images of other Marys in various states.

Our Lady of Lourdes

A large plaster statue of Our Lady of Lourdes was found in good structural order although she had been completely overpainted from top to bottom, in a white emulsion. This application had rendered her ghost-like in appearance. The objective was to restore her to her former glory. Removing the paint revealed the original deisgns,  colours and gilding. A complete reinstatement was carried out.

Mary by Jos Henke

This plaster statue of Mary was made by Jos Henke in the early 1930’s. She had no structural damage however, as with many statues, she had been overpainted. We were to restore her back to her original appearance.

This was achieved by taking paint samples and revealing underlying paint layers to retrieve patterns and designs.

The repainting and application of the original colours, gilding and designs complimented and enhanced the original design returning the statue to its stylised elegance.

Below are various polychromed and gilt Marys on wood, plaster and stone.