The original St. Peter was very worn by exposure to the sea. It was probably carved from Monk's Park Bath limestone in 1920's.
As there was very little to go on, I was able to completely redesign the saint. It was requested that I incorporate fishing nets.
A friend helped me by creating a full size maquette for taking measurements from when carving the face. The maquette is made of plasticine.
I chose to carve the saint from a slab of Kilkenny Irish limestone, as it is incredibly durable and absorbs very little water. Therefore I felt it was the best choice to withstand the salty sea air.
Here's St. Peter carved with some areas polished by hand to achieve a contrast in colour.
Some areas were gilded in 24ct gold.
Once we removed what remained of the old saint we fixed the new one in place with many stainless threaded bar dowels, epoxy glue and lime mortar.
The gilding catches the light beautifully.