New York, New York

As part of a major restoration of the plaza located at 345 Park Avenue, New York, NY, Rudin Management called on Conservation Solutions, Inc. (CSI) to treat Dinoceras, a unique bronze sculpture sited there. The work, a dynamic abstraction whose hollow, open cantilevered forms recall the appearance of ancient bones, had been created from separate castings roughly welded together in an improvisational style commonly done during the 1960-70’s. It was installed on a cast concrete plinth on the building’s plaza after its creation. The sculpture had to be removed to allow for the plaza’s waterproofing treatment and the owners wished to conserve the bronze while it was off-site.

CSI oversaw the complex rigging and transport necessary to free the sculpture from its base and remove it to a warehouse storage facility. Conservators cleaned the surfaces of decades of loose corrosion and soiling, including mounds of debris that had been stuck into its many openings. The fragile nature of the armature supporting the bronze castings was discovered during work when several cracks opened in the weld seams. CSI carefully repaired the damage by reshaping the sculpture to its original footprint and repairing the skin and armature through TIG welding. All repairs were re-patinated and the entire sculpture was coated with a hot-applied custom formulated wax.

After work was completed on the plaza, the restored sculpture was stabilized and transported back to the site. New mounting holes were drilled according to the template that had been created prior to the removals and the sculpture was soundly re-set following engineered plans.

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