At Heather & Little, we pride ourselves on our artisan craftsmanship when it comes to virtually all facets of sheet metal work, be it historic building restoration, sheet metal roofing/shingles, statue repoussé, and other custom projects. Often overlooked is the craftsmanship and attention to detail involved in the creation and restoration of metal statues, something we have become quite familiar with through our nearly 100 years of experience in the industry. Our portfolio of metal statue work ranges from Lady of Justice statues on courthouses throughout the US to more prominent statue work like the 26-foot-tall ‘Miss Freedom’ statue fixed to the roof of the Georgia state capital.
Metal statue work is time-consuming and demands a wealth of knowledge and experience with the ancient craft of metal repoussé. Repoussé, in the most basic sense, involves the hammering or otherwise forming of the underside of sheet metal to produce a design on the front face of the metal. In statues, this involves many individual repousséd components, put together to form one uniform statue. A particular statue can be composed of however many individual pieces, typically fastened and soldered together, atop an interior metal armature or frame. For example, a Lady of Justice statue may be composed of over 50 individual pieces, ranging in size and intricacy, with larger pieces for the body, and much smaller, more detailed pieces for the hands and head. In short, the process of creating or restoring a metal statue involves a frame, with repousséd metal pieces fastened and soldered together to form one complete statue.
With statues, restoration is often more desirable than recreation; typically, it means preserving a historic piece of art. Many of the unique statues we restore are one-of-a-kind Lady Justice statues, a staple of the beautiful historic courthouses throughout the United States. These historic restorations can often be more challenging than building a new statue, but is all dependent on the project at hand. Restoration may involve simple repairs and modifications, or may involve complete recreation, sometimes with as limited resources as a grainy old photograph or dated drawings, but our craftsmen always seem to be able to work miracles in restoring these unique and historic pieces.
Heather & Little has successfully performed statue restoration services on several Lady of Justice statues across the U.S. Because many Lady Justice statues in North America were constructed and put in place during the late 1800s and early 1900s, they have suffered extreme weathering or were even taken down and misplaced.
At the Navarro County Courthouse in Corsicana, Texas, we restored a Lady of Justice statue of sheet copper. This project exemplifies our metal repoussé fabrication capabilities and commitment to preserving historic courthouse architecture.
At the Milam County Courthouse in Cameron, Texas, we restored another Lady of Justice statue of sheet copper. Like the Navarro County project, this restoration demonstrates our experience with sheet-metal statuary fabrication for historic buildings.
At the Edgar County Courthouse in Paris, Illinois, sheet zinc was used to repair the Lady of Justice statue. This project showcases our ability to work with different metals in statuary restoration for historic buildings.
These restoration projects highlight the expertise Heather & Little brings to preserving these iconic symbols of justice found on courthouses throughout North America. Each project reflects our commitment to craftsmanship and nearly 100 years of experience in the industry.
Our portfolio of statue repoussé work is something we are quite proud of; most of our statue work comes from the USA, often through courthouses, capital buildings, and other government facilities. Some of our more prominent statue work can be seen on our website or even in our office, where we proudly display our copper Lady of Justice Statue, made in-house to match an identical statue we were restoring for the Navarro County Courthouse in Texas. For more information on the Lady of Justice statues specifically, see our past blog post, and for any inquiries regarding metal repoussé, statue restoration, or any other custom metal work, please feel free to contact us. We are more than happy to offer our knowledge and experience in consulting or tackling your statue project with the craftsmanship and attention to detail it deserves.
If you are looking for a second opinion on your project or have a particularly complex issue that needs a fresh eye, such as historic building restoration, we’re here to help. Tackling tricky restoration projects is our specialty, and we welcome the opportunity to provide consulting services. We apply a keen attention to detail to all our commissions.
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