STAINING ON MEMORIAL

Taranaki Daily News, 21 December 1931, Page 12

STAINING ON MEMORIAL

EQUESTRIAN STATUE. OPINION OF ARCHITECTS. Green stains on the equestrian memorial at the corner of Lambert Quay and Bowen Street, Wellington, are not a disfigurement, in the opinion of the Wellington branch of the New Zealand Institute of Architects. The Citizens’ War Memorial Committee recently sought the views of the architects regarding the stains on the white' marble of the memorial, and asked if the- marking could be removed, and if it was likely to extend substantially. The architects have advised against any treatment to eliminate the stains, and have stated that there will be no material increase in the marking. The architects had the assistance of Dr. P. Marshall, of the Public Works Department, in considering the question of marking on the memorial. The local branch of the institute has advised the Memorial Committee that the accepted design for the memorial shows that the designer had contemplated the natural process of weather and mellowing with age. It is pointed out that tho staining has been hastened by the chemical treatment of the statuary, presumably with sal ammoniac. This chemical speeds up the green staining, and achieves promptly a condition which would in the ordinary process have required several years. It is considered by the architects that in time the green stains will incline to a bronze colour.

The statement prepared by the architects adds: —“It is considered that the natural effect of age upon building materials is a process inevitable, and one likely to be noticeable in all materials but the hardest and most polished. This maturing and weathering, does undoubtedly add much character to the work, and aids much in providing harmony not only between the various elements of a work of architecture, but also with the surroundings. In the case of the memorial the aesthetic effect of the bronze staining will eventually be to provide a bond between statuary and shaft, which would otherwise be lacking.”