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Golden Boys

Maybe it will acquire a nice, natural patina during the building works Eric !! We can hope. Viv.
 
ellbrown said:
Here they are this afternoon

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They're looking err ... well .... as bright as ever! But they look a bit lost amidst all the debris. Having said that though, this is, to me, probably Birmingham's most important sculpture. Viv.
 
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I'm not sure if it was appropriate or unfortunate that Dominic Sandbrook in the first episode of his story of the collapse of industry in Britain being followed by an increase in the "arts" showed him by the statue with the intact building still up, behind him, looking a bit rundown.
 
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Calibri, Geneva, sans-serif]Just watched the programme on iPlayer Mike. Interesting programme - includes some nice footage of Black Sabbath, as well as the Golden Boys. Took a few screenshots. One thing the gold paint succeeds in doing is to illuminate the detail on the statues. It even picks up the detail on the scroll of paper. Viv.

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A couple more. V.
 

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I was strange seeing Dominic standing in front of them, long before the House of Sport got knocked down!


Think it is gold leaf.
 
Mr Bloye must be turning over in his grave at what has been done with his work. I did when in Brum in October get to go by, The only thing I can say is who authorized the cost of all the gold leaf? We use to use gold leaf on plaster moulding's for ceilings. etc. John Crump Parker, Colorado USA
 
The statue has been golden for a few years now so I presume it is durable as it still look as new, (I was going to say good as new but I am still not convinced)
 
Much prefer it how it used to be outside the old registry office, bronze builds up a lovely patina over time and should have been left alone, the words 'gaudy' and 'garish' come to mind. Eric
 
cookie273uk said:
Much prefer it how it used to be outside the old registry office, bronze builds up a lovely patina over time and should have been left alone, the words 'gaudy' and 'garish' come to mind. Eric
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hi eric the words cheap and tacky spring to my mind...bit like the new library opposite...like you i reckon the original colour was more in keeping..

lyn
 
A number of descriptions of the group refer to it being Re-gilded. This presumably means that it was gilded in the first place, and so is now how the sculptor intended it.
 
I worked on the orig clay models with My Bloye he used male models in full costume.. This was cast in BRONZE and was intended to be left that way, as far as I know.I t should have weathered over the years like the Queen Vic statue, (that I carved the inscription on). I am sure that the Brum city council THOUGHT? that it would look better gold, why is a good question. BUT it has sure garnered quite some attention GOLD. So maybe that was a good thing? I would think that the cost of gold leaf would have been very high and will have to be redone at some future date. John Crump Old&ProudtohavebepartofthehistoryofBrumBriit. Parker, Colorado USA
 
Certainly between the 1950s - 1980s when I remember the statues they were bronze, very dark too. Viv.
 
Certainly I only remember them back to around 1970, but was just repeating what a number of sites have stated. It sounds like in this case the council have made their own unjustified assumptions , like they do with many other things
 
Thank you Oldbrit for reminding us how the statue was meant to be, I recall it being a dark colour. I can't
understand why the council thought that gilding it enhances it. Bronze ages with that lovely patina that nothing but exposure to all the elements gives it. I can't imagine what the gilding will look like in a few years. The best thing that could happen is it will peel off and look wonderful in its original state.

I know that Mr Bloye was responsible for the Statue of Pan in the fountain in Aston Park. The statue of Pan was vandalized and the head stolen a few years ago, there is no maquete to copy which is why Pan has never been repaired.

If anybody has photo's of the fountain complete with head, it is probable that work could go ahead to repair it.
 
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