Dinoceras Sculpture

Sculptor Robert Cook created this artwork that has been on display outside of 345 Park Avenue since its installation in 1971. Dinoceras means dynamic wax in Latin.  Cook used a wax casting technique to create one of the largest wax sculptures ever made to date. The work was created from separate castings roughly welded together in an improvisational style, commonly done during the 1960-70’s.  It was installed on a cast concrete plinth on the building’s plaza but needed to be removed to allow for the plaza to be waterproofed.  The owners wished to conserve the bronze while it was off-site.

EverGreene oversaw the complex rigging and transport necessary to free the sculpture from its base and remove it to a warehouse storage facility. Conservators cleaned the surfaces of decades of loose corrosion and soiling, including mounds of debris that had been stuck into its many openings. During the work, the fragile nature of the armature supporting the bronze castings was discovered when several cracks opened in the weld seams. The damage was carefully repaired by reshaping the sculpture to its original footprint and repairing the skin and armature through TIG welding.  All repairs were repatinated and the entire sculpture was coated with a hot-applied custom formulated wax.

After treatment completion, the restored sculpture was transported back to its original site. New mounting holes were drilled according to the template that had been created prior to the removal and the sculpture was securely reset following engineered plans.