Antique Bronze Statue - Cleaning

[firehorse]

Hello, I bought this bronze statue, depicting a seated Greek goddess next to an urn on a stand and an arrows carrier from an ebay seller.  At the time, the seller didn't indicate or hadn't noticed that it was signed, but when I received it, I saw that it was signed by French sculptor, Leon Pilet, on the front of the arrows carrier by her side next to the seat. 

It needs a good clean and I was wondering if anyone could advise as to how to carefully clean it.  I'd read somewhere that mild soap and water and a soft toothbrush might do it. 

It has also been painted at a later date perhaps and rather crudely too.  Would there be any safe method of stripping off the paint or should it be left alone as is. 

I have looked on the internet for other works of Leon Pilet and I can't find the same statue to find out the name/title and year it was made.  I'd read that Pilet did most of his bronzes at the end of the 1800's to early 1900's and he died in 1916.  I was wondering if perhaps the statue is meant to be Diana, the huntress because of the arrows.  Does anyone know what the urn represents?

Any help with the above would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,

Jill

PS.  I've tried writing this message several times, attaching photos, but it says something about the path of the photos being wrong.  I try again and it says I've already posted the message, but when I look on the message board the message never appears. 

[frogpatch]

Wipe it all over with a soft microfiber cloth and nothing else. That should remove surface dust and dirt without scratching or removing patina. use a soft little artist brush in the deep crevices. Lots of the gentlest methods will not diminish the finish along with the value. Anything else should be done professionally. Try to put that photo up so we could see the piece and how dirty it is.

[mart]

Can you tell what kind of paint was used ??  Try folding a soft clothe in several layers and wet it with hot (not boiling) water and lay it on one of the painted areas and keep wetting it over about an hours time period !!  Water based paint will loosen and start to peel off,, oil based paint will not !!  However many of these statues were originally painted in some areas so post pics here before doing anything !!  What Frogpatch said is all you need to clean unless severely dirty !!

[firehorse]

Thanks frogpatch and mart for your replies to my post.  I've just tried again to post pictures (after numerous attempts), but it says that it can't access the path to attach them!  I will keep trying as I'd like you to see how she looks.  Any hints as to what I could be doing wrong with attaching the pictures would be appreciated.  I've made them smaller in size, but still no success in attaching them.  They are also in jpg format. 

She has dust build up in the crevices of her eyes, hair, etc.  So I will use the soft brush to try to remove that in the meantime.  I'll try again to see if I can get those pictures attached!!

[mart]

Its nothing you are doing that is the reason you can`t get the pics to load,, its a site problem and they are working on it !!  Just keep trying with those pics and hopefully the issue will be repaired shortly !!

[firehorse]

Thanks Mart, I tried again to upload the photos, but still the same error messages, so obviously the problem still isn't fixed.  I'll keep trying. 

Jill

[brucedixon01]

In our house, we used to clean our antiques with a soft cloth or towels. 

[firehorse]

Thanks Bruce, I've been slowly getting out the dust with a soft brush and giving it a wipe with a soft cloth.  I'm still having problems attaching the photos to show the paint on the statue, but keep getting the same error message.  Does anyone know if the problem has been fixed with the website? 

[mart]

Are you trying to post pics from a phone ??  Why not try a different approach,, it may be the format used causing the problem !! If you have one try a camera or another device and see if they load !!
Or look on my profile and email me the pics,, make sure they are the smaller size about 1000kb, and I will try to post one for you !!  Get a front view and a close up of the signature !!

[firehorse]

Hi Mart, I've been trying to upload them from my computer, the photos having been saved on there from my camera.  They are jpg's too.  I will try again and if no luck, I'll send them on to you as you suggested. 

Thanks for your help! 

Jill

[mart]

I will check in the morning and see if they are in my email !! I haven`t tried to post pics since the problem started so all we can do is try it !!  I have posted pics from the Kovel site and that worked OK !!  But they were only a copy and paste !!

[firehorse]

Hi Mart, I've just sent you the pictures.  Hopefully you received them.  If not, I'll try to resend them. 

Thanks,  Jill

[mart]

Running late today !!  Will check my email shortly !!