Metal Sculpture Repair
Before
After - with a new rifle barrel and a minor touch-up to “even out” color in a few areas.
After
Owens sculpted a new gun barrel from a solid bronze cylinder for this sculpture of a civil war era navel soldier. It was originally manufactured with a removable barrel, make it easier to box and ship, but also easier to misplace and loose.
The figure was cast out of “white metal”, which is similar to pewter and grey in color. The manufacturer painted the figure to resemble bronze, so the new barrel was painted also.
A few areas, such as the face and hands, were repainted because they were a distraction, but most of the surface was left alone. At this time, it is a relatively inexpensive collectable item, but no one knows how the market value may change. It may hold its value better if left as is. Owens felt that the best course was to not repaint the entire figure and the client agreed. With a metal sculpture repair like this, sometimes less is more.
The new bronze part fits into the pre-existing hole nicely
The rifle barrel was test-fitted before it was finally installed. After this, color was added to just a few key areas such as the face and hands. This was a minimal approach to metal sculpture repair.