Replication: Hippocampus Drinking Fountain

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HIPPOCAMPUS DRINKING FOUNTAIN

(Designed by Sir Ernest George, 1892)

location:

Mount Street Gardens, Mayfair, London

client:

The Residents' Society of Mayfair and St James's

Archive photo of the fountain when intact

This Grade II listed decorative drinking fountain was erected by Henry Lofts 'in recognition of many happy years in Mount Street' and was designed by Sir Ernest George.

The fountain had suffered from thefts in recent years and was missing its hippocampus from the top and both lion head spouts from above the basins.

We were commissioned to conserve the existing elements of the fountain and remodel the stolen elements from the photographic evidence, cast them in bronze and reinstate in working order. The client provided two archive photographs and we found two more by researching the history of the fountain.

The fountain before restoration

1. Using the archive photos for reference, clay models of the hippocampus and lions' heads were modelled.

2. The clay model was then cut up and
brass shims inserted where the mould
will be seamed.

3. Using cold silicon rubber, the clay
was covered to make a mould.

4. This photo shows the inside of the
rubber mould after the two halves of
the mould had been separated. Note
that the legs and tail were moulded
separately.

5. The lions' heads were modelled and moulded in the same way.

6. Wax casts were made using the moulds, and runners and risers added.

7. The waxes were then invested in a fire-proof ceramic investment shell.

8. The shells were then heated, after
having the wax burned out, ready for
the bronze.

9. The molten bronze was then poured
into the mould.

10. The cast bronze pieces were then
cleaned up and welded together.

11. The cast bronze hippocampus and
lion heads were then engineered to
fit the remainder of the original fountain,
and patinated to match. Here, a base
undercoat has been formed on the new
castings using ammonium chloride, to
match the underlying natural green
patina of the original fountain elements.

12. The patination was then completed
to a dark brown/black shade and the
whole was waxed. The completed
fountain was then reinstated, replumbed
and the granite pool cleaned and
repaired.

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