In December, I wrote about a car wreck in Savannah in 2008 in which a drunk driver demolished a magnificent 19th-century terra cotta statue, part of the fountain it stood on, and the antique wrought-iron fence that surrounded it.
The crash occurred in front of the Savannah Cotton Exchange, a place that looms large in Smith family lore because my grandfather worked there for many years, he being in the cotton business.
I was in Savannah last month, and I’m pleased to report that all is well. The damage from the wreck has been repaired in a most satisfactory manner.
It isn’t the same terra cotta statue, but it’s a commendable facsimile thereof, reconstructed using pieces of the original as a guide.
It isn’t the same wrought-iron fencing, but it’s a laudable duplication, built when an identical fence was located and copied.
All of which makes for an interesting story…
The Wrought Iron Fence
The ornamental fence fared poorly in the crash. The wrought iron was brittle with age and on impact, broke into hundreds of small pieces. Some shards even landed on the roof of the Cotton Exchange.
From a restoration standpoint, that was very bad news. The old fence featured intricate silhouettes of famous statesmen, poets, and authors. Even working with detailed photographs, duplicating the original would be a daunting task.
Detail of the wrought iron fence.
But in an ironic twist, another wreck earlier in 2008 was the key to restoring the fence to its former glory.
Roger Youmans, owner of a local welding company, was hired to make the repairs. Several weeks earlier, Youmans had been called to the office of Savannah attorney Sam Inglesby to repair another wrought iron fence knocked down in a car accident.
The damage in that case was minor. Youmans repaired the support posts and put the wrought iron rails back in place.
When Youmans saw the damage at the Cotton Exchange, he realized that the two fences were identical.
Originally, both fences came from the antebellum Barclay-Wetter House, which was torn down many decades ago. Its decorative fencing had been sold to various buyers, including the building that now houses the attorney’s office and the company that erected the fountain at the Cotton Exchange.
Attorney Inglesby readily agreed to loan sections of his fence to the restoration project. Youmans used the 3-foot-by-6-foot panels to create molds of the silhouettes and make new castings.
The replacement fencing is made from ductile iron, a type of cast iron said to be stronger and less brittle than wrought iron.
Mission One accomplished.
The Terra Cotta Statue
Replacing the terra cotta statue was a tad more complicated.
The statue in the fountain was of a griffon, a mythological beast that is a cross between a lion (the king of beasts) and an eagle (the king of birds).
To most tourists, as well as local people of sluggish intellect, it was “the lion” or “the winged lion.”
After the crash, staff members of the Parks and Trees Department began a nationwide search for either a similar statue or the identity of the company that built the original, in hopes that the plans still existed.
For weeks, they contacted libraries, museums, and associations around the country that keep records on American sculpture. No similar statue was found. No leads paid off.
Then, a breakthrough: they learned that a New Jersey company, the Perth Amboy Terra Cotta Company, was the original manufacturer of the statue.
And another breakthrough: in St. Louis, they found a collection of catalogs containing illustrations of molds used by that manufacturer. The griffon was featured in the company’s 1889 catalog of outdoor art.
In 1889, the statue had been a stock item. The City of Savannah had purchased it for $173.00.
Meanwhile, the city hired an architectural restoration specialist from Connecticut, Randall Nelson, to begin examining the pile of rubble that once was the statue.
Griffon rubble.
Nelson spent 10 months reassembling the pieces like a jigsaw puzzle. His goal was to put together enough pieces to build another mold.
Finally, with the aid of numerous photographs and the illustrations in the old catalogs, he succeeded.
A mold was built, and the griffon was recreated, this time from concrete — not that flimsy terra cotta stuff.
On December 8, 2009, the replacement statue was hoisted into position atop the repaired fountain, inside the restored wrought iron fence.
This news video describes the action.
And, for a local news channel, this video is surprisingly artistic.
The only thing is, I wish the news people would stop calling the statue a lion. It’s a griffon.
A unicorn is not a horse, a phoenix is not a bird, and a griffon is not a lion. How hard is that?
But anyway, Mission Two accomplished.
What’s Next?
The driver who caused the damage was charged with a list of offenses, most notably DUI. In total, the City of Savannah spent roughly $75,000 on repairs.
David White, head of the Parks and Trees Department, said his risk management people will seek ways to recover the cost.
Good luck with that.
The original.
The replacement. Nicely done.
Hey, thanks for the update. My husband and daughter and I were in Savannah the weekend of the accident in 2008 and I’ve been curious how it turned out.
My mom worked at the Cotton Exchange in the early 1950’s and so we felt a connection with the place.
The city did a great job on the repairs. No shortcuts or cheap fixes.
In case you’re interested, the story I wrote on 12/15/09 has details about the Cotton Exchange itself. Just type “cotton” in the search box.
To paraphrase Robert Frost… Something there is that doesn’t like a fence.