How to clean dirty spelter figures?

Dust the surface gently with a soft watercolour brush. Keep moisture away from the metal. Water causes a powdery corrosion called zinc pest that destroys the cast surface. Avoid commercial metal polishes. They will strip the applied patina right off and leave you with bare grey zinc.

Can broken spelter be soldered?

Repairing broken zinc alloy is often difficult. The metal melts at a low temperature, so standard soldering tools will simply melt the surrounding area. Specialists use two-part epoxy resins instead. They pin the joint internally with wire and paint over the fix.

I have a pair of classical statues on wooden bases and they are leaning forward quite badly. Is there a way to straighten them up?

The leaning usually happens because the spelter has stretched or cracked at the ankles. The metal is soft and bears the entire weight of the upper casting. Do not try to bend them back into position by hand. The zinc alloy is brittle and will snap without warning. You need to loosen the main threaded rod holding the figure to the base. Sometimes you can add thin metal washers under the front of the feet to correct the angle before tightening the nut again.

Someone told me my clock garniture was cast in spelter rather than bronze, but it looks exactly like dark bronze to me. Why do they use paint?

Foundries wanted to replicate the expensive look of aged bronze without the material cost. They applied chemical washes or tinted varnishes to the grey zinc alloy right after casting. These patinated finishes were baked on or lacquered to provide a durable skin. When handled carefully, the surface mimics the depth and tone of actual bronze. The illusion only fails when the piece gets knocked. A deep scratch will expose the silver-grey metal underneath, whereas a scratch on bronze reveals a bright gold tone.

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Antique Spelter

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Antique spelter is a zinc-based alloy cast in moulds to create decorative figures, clocks and lamps that mimic the weight and appearance of solid bronze. Produced heavily in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, it brought classical sculpture into the middle-class parlour.