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Adapted from the Conservation Report - St. John's Church, Lunenburg, NS by Kellie McIvor Conservation :On October 31, 2001, St. John's Church, Lunenburg, NS suffered a tragic fire. During the course of the blaze, the early 1900, oak altar piece was removed from the burning church. It had been damaged by both the fire and by the salt water from the fire hoses. Incredibly, the altar was in excellent condition, considering the trauma.
DESCRIPTION:
Oak altar, circa 1900, with Port Jolie style carved front panel and side figures. Manufactured in Ontario and donated to the Parish by the Zwicker Family.
Very well built piece constructed from the best quality white oak. Traditional style with gothic arches and acorn finials over quarter-sawn oak carcass. Recessed front corners designed to hold figures of saints. Solid oak carcass or body with the layers of very delicate carved trim applied over top in layers. This layering creates the look of one carved piece but in reality, it is much stronger because it has a solid body with applied details.
Panel depicts the Last Supper scene. It is carved from very straight-grained white oak. The carving technique is rough and it is a particular style, Port Jolie. The panel is very detailed and the carver was highly skilled. The figures of the saints are also oak.
CONDITION:
The heat and flames caused scorching, glue loss, blisters to finish, soot, etc. The salt water used to put out the fire caused further damage
Overall, the altar was very grimy and sooty. There were many areas of tar droppings (from the melting roof materials). There were 2 main areas of scorching, the largest being on the bottom, front, and right.
TREATMENT:
The altar was brushed with a clean bristle brush and vacuumed. Areas were then swabbed with 'Smoke-Off' rubber erasers to remove any lightly ingrained soot. Once all possible surface grime removed, the altar (except panel and figures) was cleaned and a very thin Varathane varnish applied with a stiff brush. Because the original varnish was mostly intact, this top layer offers further protection, enhances the visual quality and is appropriate as there had been a varnish layer previously.
Pigmented wax was used to infill some cracks and to reproduce a broken detail corner. The restoration committee decided to leave the large scorch visible as part of the altar's history and this was injected with a solution of 10% B-72 (glue) in acetone in order to consolidate it internally. Conservator's wax applied to the top of the altar for further protection.
The panels and figures were more difficult to clean. The soot and tar had deeply penetrated the pores of the oak and the salt residue posed more problems. All areas were cleaned with swabs, lightly dampened with Orvus and water. Ethanol and Mineral Spirits were used to help remove further soot. Tar areas were removed with acetone (very stubborn areas).
The missing parts such as fingertips and toes were reproduced using a wood epoxy.
In total over 3500 swabs were used during this cleaning.
Editor's conversation with Kellie.
MORE LINKS:
Photographs of the church before, during and after the fire:
November 1, 2001 - The Burning
November 2, 2001 - The Aftermath
The interior after the burning - November 2001
The interior clean up progress - December 7, 2001 and December 28, 2001
The exterior encapsulation progress - January 16, 2002, January 23 - 27, 2002, January 31, 2002, February 7 - 15, 2002 and February 23 - March 2, 2002
Non-structural elements
The restoration of the altar
The exterior before
The interior before
The interior Christmas 1991
"Simon Birch" 1997
Canadian Heritage Minister, Sheila Copps, commits financial assistance at parish hall meeting November 16, 2001
Photograph of Solomon Morash, master builder in charge of the 1892 changes
A Short History of St. John's Anglican Church
People buried under the Church 1761 - 1826
Anglican Diocese of Nova Scotia Historical and Architectural Survey and relevant Links
The Commemoration of St. John's Anglican Church as a National Historic Site October 11, 1998
Interesting Facts & Figures about St. John's