Care and handling

Cast copper and brass are durable. The finishes on them are not, and almost every ruined statue we are shown was ruined by good intentions — most often by polish.

The one rule

Never polish an oxidized statue, and never use metal cleaner on any of them.

The dark tone on an oxidized piece is a deliberate chemical patina that was applied and then cut back by hand so the raised detail catches light. Polish strips it in one pass. It cannot be reapplied at home, and re-toning it means sending the piece back to the workshop that made it.

Oxidized copper and brass

Dust weekly with a dry, soft cloth. A natural-bristle brush — a clean paintbrush is ideal — reaches into a crown, jewellery and the petals of a lotus base, which is where dust actually collects.

No water. No cleaner. No polish. If something has to come off, breathe on the spot and buff it with a dry cotton cloth, and stop there.

Fire-gilt surfaces

The gold on a fire-gilt piece is a thin skin bonded to copper, and it abrades. Dust it with clean, dry cotton and no pressure — not microfibre, which is mildly abrasive and will matt the surface over time.

Handle it by the base, or with cotton gloves. Skin oils leave marks on gold that set and then need re-firing to remove.

Painted faces

Where a face is painted and the hair pigmented, keep both dry and away from direct sun. The pigments are traditional and they fade in ultraviolet light faster than the metal changes at all.

Where to keep it

Away from damp, direct sunlight, and anywhere it can be knocked. A bathroom or an unheated porch will move a patina within a season. Steady incense smoke dulls gilding over years — worth knowing before choosing where a shrine goes, and not a reason to stop burning incense.

Lifting it

By the base. Never by an arm, a wing, a raised attribute or a crown. Those are cast thin and they are what breaks — and they break while being moved, not in transit.

Damage

Send us photographs in daylight and we will tell you honestly whether a repair is worth doing. A scuffed patina can often be re-toned by the workshop that made the piece. Gilding worn through to the copper usually cannot be spot-repaired without re-firing the whole surface, which is a bigger job than most pieces justify.