Conserving an Oak Spring Masterpiece

A replica of the original finial currently sits atop the greenhouse.

Oak Spring is home to many beautiful pieces of floral art, and the finial crowning the greenhouse is one of the most stunning.

A bouquet of intricate, lead-plated copper flowers artfully arranged in an urn, the finial was one of the many nature-inspired pieces that jewelry designer Jean Schlumberger created for Bunny Mellon during their long friendship. It was installed on the greenhouse roof in the early 1960s, where it oversaw the goings-on at Oak Spring for many years before the decades of wind and rain began to weaken and crack the sculpture.

The conserved original finial in the Oak Spring Garden Gallery’s in-progress Schlumberger exhibit.

In 2018, the Oak Spring Garden Foundation made the decision to conserve Schlumberger’s masterpiece and replace it with a copper and bronze replica. In July 2020, the long project came full circle when conservators moved the fully restored original sculpture to an exhibition room in the Oak Spring Garden Foundation Gallery, where it will be protected from the elements.

“It’s been very rewarding to bring back the original, and to be a part of Oak Spring with my long history here,” said conservator Andrew Baxter, of Bronze Et Al. Baxter has worked on projects for both Paul and Bunny Mellon in the past, including conservation work on some of Mr. Mellon’s bronze racehorse statues.

“I’ve admired (Schlumberger’s) work at the Virginia Museum for years, so it’s been a terrific project, and I’m so honored to be a part of it,” he said.

Andrew Baxter also restored the marble “weeping woman” statue in the formal garden during his visit to OSGF (age and artist unknown.)

Unlike many metal sculptures, the complex flowers arranged in the finial utilize methods unique to jewelry-making, foundry, and forge work, said Baxter, making the restoration of the piece “a challenge and a pleasure.” The restoration process included strengthening the piece with different varieties of solder, replacing missing leafs, restoring the unique, greenish-white color of the sculpture, and straightening and reinforcing the urn, which had begun to collapse after years of exposure. Both Baxter and metalsmith Drew Reynolds talk more about the restoration process in the video below.

Drew Reynolds of Broken Tooth Forge, who did much of the work on the replica, described the finial as a “once in a decade” project.

“This is a really cool, entirely unique thing to be able to work on,” he said.

The copper lily replica beside the Schlumberger original; the replica was completed and installed on the greenhouse roof in 2018. Photo courtesy of Drew Reynolds.

Photo courtesy of Drew Reynolds.

A layout process for creating the replica. Drew Reynolds wrote, “For each piece I had to translate the each part from the three dimensional form back to flat copper. It requires a lot of measuring and a near equal amount of estimation and sketching. This image shows a couple of the steps in the layout process.”

The urn and its replica. Photo courtesy of Drew Reynolds.

Restoration in process. Photo courtesy of Drew Reynolds.

Photo courtesy of Drew Reynolds.

Arranging the conserved original finial in the Oak Spring Garden Gallery in July 2020.

Andrew Baxter touches up the color of the conserved finial.

The restored original finial in its new home in the Oak Spring Garden Foundation gallery, where it will be the centerpiece of our Jean Schlumberger exhibit (scheduled to be completed in fall 2020.)

The restored original finial is now displayed in the Oak Spring Garden Foundation Gallery, where it will be the centerpiece of an in-progress exhibition about Jean Schlumberger and Bunny Mellon’s friendship. The exhibit is currently scheduled for completion in Fall 2020.

Special thanks to Andrew Baxter and Drew Reynolds for their help with this blogpost (and for their fantastic work on the finial!)