Rotorua Museum hunts for missing fingers and toes
Marble sculpture by CF Summers Junior.
As part of a project to clean and restore their collection of Summers' Sculptures, Rotorua Museum is offering an amnesty for the return of missing marble fingers and toes.
Rotorua Museum owns the world's largest collection of sculptures from father and son artists Charles Francis Summers Senior and Junior. Made from Italian Carrara marble, these works were bought when the Bath House opened in 1908 to add to the feeling of grandeur and opulence in the building.
Eleven intricate neo-classical sculptures have adorned the hallways of the Bath House building since its days as a medical facility, through the Tudor Towers era as a restaurant and nightclub, until the current day as a museum and art gallery. Over the years more than 20 parts have been broken off, including fingers, thumbs, hands, toes, noses and arrows.
Rotorua Museum would love to find as many of these missing pieces as possible so the sculptures can be fully restored to their former glory.
Expert stone conservator Marco Brger was at the museum this week, where he trained Museum staff and Friends of the Museum on how to clean and care for the Summers' Sculptures.
If you think you may have one of these missing parts please contact Rotorua Museum deputy director Pamela Lovis by email on pamela.lovis@rdc.govt.nz or phone 07 348 5758.
The project is supported by Friends of Rotorua Museum with funding from Rotorua Energy Charitable Trust.