Jessie Duncan Wiggin (American, 1872–1954), Untitled (Nymph) (detail), 1933, bronze, Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts, Gift of Vicki Weil, Rosalind Markstein, and Bobby Weil II, in memory of their parents, Mr. and Mrs. Robert S. Weil, 2017.3
Overview
The John and Joyce Caddell Sculpture Garden gained its first permanent resident in October when Jessie Duncan Wiggin’s (1872–1954) Untitled (Nymph) took center stage at the top of the new Garden. While many of its current sculptural residents are intended to be temporary visitors, this lovely bronze dancer will be welcoming visitors to the Caddell Sculpture Garden for years to come.
The Nymph’s journey to the Garden began in New York in 1933. The more than six-foot tall figure was cast at the Roman Bronze Works in New York and depicts a mythological spirit of nature, who, as in this case, is generally shown in a celebratory dance. In mythology, nymphs were associated with locations such as woods, rivers, and streams.
Having already been exhibited outdoors for many years in Robert and Virginia Weil’s Montgomery garden, the sculpture’s surface needed to be cleaned and years of accumulated corrosion removed. It is corrosion of the metal that gives bronze exhibited outdoors a characteristic bright green color over the original patina. The Museum consulted with objects conservator, Michelle Savant of Atlanta for the project. A broken finger was repaired, the sculpture was cleaned, and finally, Savant waxed the surface, which will protect it from further deterioration. This process has returned the sculpture’s surface to its original bronze patina.
The Museum has placed Nymph on a limestone plinth at the top of the Garden, in front of a beautiful natural rock wall that defines the northern edge of the Caddell Sculpture Garden itself. As a garden sculpture in the classical tradition of mythological spirits of nature, Nymphrepresents a convention in Western art that goes back for many centuries: that of showing female figures as celebrations of nature and of the garden’s natural beauty.
The Process
Conservator Michelle Savant began work on the sculpture Nymph by washing the bronze with a mild soap and using a low-abrasive pad to remove surface dirt and corrosion.
Once the work had been cleaned, the conservator applied wax to its surface to seal it and protect it from the elements. Garden Superintendent Jeff Dutton assisted by heating the surface with a heat gun, which kept the wax flowing to fill any tiny crevices in the surface.
Finally, once the wax had dried and hardened, the surface was buffed with a clean, lint-free fabric. The Museum staff will continue to apply wax as necessary to protect the work over time.
The Results
Before conservation
After conservation
