Cleaning the Library’s Lintel Sculpture

David Reid
Tom Bass at the Installation of his
Library Lintel Sculpture Above the Entrance to the National Library of Australia, 1968
Pictures Collection; nla.pic-vn24808660
Sophie Lewincamp from Preservation Services
cleans the lintel sculpture
Photo: Sam Cooper
The National Library of Australia commissioned several artworks when the Library was built in 1968. One of these is the lintel sculpture by Tom Bass, which is situated above the entrance to the Library. As part of the preparations for the National Library’s 40th birthday celebrations, the sculpture was cleaned by Preservation Services staff.
Tom Bass AM (b.1916) has been Australia’s most fervent advocate of public sculpture and an influential teacher, inspiring and training generations of artists at the Tom Bass Sculpture School since it was established in 1974. After graduating from art school in 1948, he embarked upon a series of stylised figurative sculptures of unusual range and ambition. This period of work culminates in Ethos in Civic Square, Canberra City (1959–61), sponsored by the then National Capital Developmental Commission and the Canberra Chamber of Commerce.
The more organic form of the P&O wall fountain in Hunter Street, Sydney (1962–63), was a change in direction for Bass, and this period in his career included the design and construction of the copper lintel sculpture for the National Library of Australia (1967–68). It represents the sun flanked by the ark of conservation and the tree of knowledge.
Preservation staff cleaned the sculpture with a mild conservation detergent to remove dirt, guano and accretions from the surface. Rinsing the surface removed remaining detergent before it was dried with cloths to prevent drip lines. Once dry, the surface was buffed using soft cloths. The treatment was successful and the staff enjoyed the novelty of working outside, despite the cold August weather. The low temperatures prevented the application of a protective coating of microcrystalline wax. This treatment will be performed later in the year, during warmer weather.
Denyl Cloughley
Exhibitions Conservator, Preservation Services



