In the 19th century, when a wealthy citizen of New Orleans died they were probably buried in Metairie Cemetery . Nine Louisiana governors, seven New Orleans' mayors, and three Confederate generals are buried there. Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederacy, was there for a while before his corpse was moved to Richmond Virginia.

One such citizen was Lucien Napoleon Brunswig, a pharmaceutical millionaire. When his young son and wife died within a month of each other in 1892 they were buried in this granite pyramid, guarded by a sphinx. A more than life-sized woman brings a libation urn and points with her left hand to the name Brunswig over the tomb’s door. A winged orb chiseled over its entrance offers divine protection. Although Lucien remarried, had more kids and moved to Los Angeles for over 50 years, he had his body shipped back to New Orleans and buried inside his pyramid alongside his wife and son. This monument is the most photographed monument of all in Metairie Cemetery.

Unfortunately, the monument suffered quite a bit of damage over the years. There was the typical discoloration and dirt on the stone, large and deep cracks on the sphinx and bleach damage from maintenance crews who don’t understand marble, to such an extent that it was hastening the deterioration of the stone. There is a point of no return where the damage done is just too deep to repair, but happily this was not the case here. Also, the urn had broken off its base and the fingers of both hands were completely broken off, leaving sad little stumps of hands. The family hired Emily Ford of Oak and Laurel Cemetery Preservation, LLC to lead this restoration project and she called me in to do the sculpture replacement work. 

I felt a huge responsibility to get this project right. The difficulties of replacing both of the woman’s hands were enormous. The more I looked at the statue, the more I realized that it had been carved by a Master Carver, probably Italian. I worried that my hands wouldn’t match the quality of the original carver’s. I needed to match the style of the original sculptor, which was very different than mine, while also leaving stone wherever I could to increase the durability of the hands. That said, I couldn’t leave TOO much extra stone because of issues with weight. This monument is a replica of another in Milan, whose hands haven’t fared much better than this one’s. We were only able to find one old, blurry photograph with intact hands, in which we could see that the way the fingers were extended and separated made them much more vulnerable. I presented the family with the option to be completely faithful to the original sculpture or to carve the hand to be more durable. They opted for durability, so I designed both hands with most fingers connected, but still creating openings for a graceful gesture. Also, the fingertips of the left hand had to fit perfectly between her wrist (where Emily had removed the old damaged stone at a bracelet so the seam would be invisible) and 1/16th of an inch from the granite pyramid, just enough room for a daub of caulk. The right hand hangs down close to the urn which wasn’t in place until the very end of the project. When we installed the urn and hand, the thumb was 1/4 inch from the urn, an absolutely perfect fit. 

Emily and I didn’t want the new gleaming white marble hands to look like our lady (we called her Annie after one of the tomb’s occupants) was wearing white gloves, so we experimented with different strengths of tea to stain the marble. I also painted on permanent pigments to mimic the lichen, mold etc. growing on the old marble. The match was excellent, although not long lasting- I have gone over several times to re-tint the hands. We’ll have to wait and see how long it takes the new marble to take on the patina of age.

Installation of the new hands and repaired urn happened just as a huge, scary, black storm cloud was blowing in. Another restoration expert, Nick Black, helped us and it took all three of us to get the pieces epoxied in place, with many supports to hold everything securely in place and covered with protective plastic just before the storm broke. At one point a huge gust of wind almost blew Emily off the ladder where she was holding the hand in place while epoxy was setting. I barely caught her by her belt loops, but professional that she is, she never let go of the marble hand. 

As Emily says, this was the project of a lifetime. Working with this family was a privilege and deep friendships were made. I am very proud of our accomplishment and grateful to the family for their willingness to invest in preserving an important monument and work of art.

"My cousins and I were thrilled with the work Sherry did for us restoring our family tomb.  Specifically, she replaced the hands of a female statue that had shattered and broken off after many years of wear and tear.  Based on the original, Sherry redesigned and recommended a slight design change that will make the new ones better able to withstand the test of time.  The result is so beautiful!  Really it’s everything I hoped it would be—the hands are the perfect match of delicate and sturdy.  I know that my great grandfather—who commissioned the tomb in honor of his wife and child—would be especially pleased to see his inspiration restored to its original beauty."

Walt Harris