How We Restore and Create Bronze Plaques
Plaques are often in outdoor spaces, exposed to climatic and social contact. Though discussion with our client, we agree upon a restoration plan, and begin our work by removing dirt, old waxes, lacquers and unwanted oxides from the plaque’s surface, then readjust the patina and, optionally, coat the plaque with new layers of protective lacquer and wax. As you can see with the Rosenberger Medal, we also make new plaques using traditional methods and new digital technology.
Click on the images to see the processes:
The General Nathanael Green Memorial Bronze Plaque
Brown University’s Nathanael Greene plaque, condition in 2013. The green oxides have progressed consistent with the campus aesthetic
The Rosenberger Medal
A sand cast N from Gorham’s Rosenberger Medal for Brown University.
Historic plaques are bas-relief sculptures. We approach the works’ restoration as we do a sculpture in the round. Excellent examples are Brown University’s General Nathanael Green Plaque and the Rosenberger Medal, both sculpted at the Gorham Foundry of Providence, Rhode Island.
About late 20th Century plaques
Industrially produced plaques produced since the latter half of the 20th Century, while also providing durable text and image identifiers to the public, are manufactured with all text and images flat and on the same plane, to be uniformly colored with paint or uniform chemical treatments, then quickly finished on large industrial belt sanders.