Treatment of a Historic Monument
Fountain of the Tortoises
Location: San Francisco, CA
Client: Nob Hill Association

The Fountain of the Tortoises, located in Hunting Park in the Nob Hill neighborhood of San Francisco, is a reproduction of the Fountain of the Dolphins, an Italian fountain designed by Giacomo della Porta in the 16th Century at the request of Pope Alexander VII. The reproduction was given to the city in 1954 by the children of William and Ethel Crocker, who had originally purchased the reproduction and installed it in their yard. The fountain was moved to its present location in the 1950s.

ARG Conservation Services was contracted in June 2007 to treat the masonry on the marble fountain, the bronze sluptures, deteriotation of the previous repairs such as yellowed fills, and to re-attach two replicas of the tortoises that had been stolen

Masonry treatment adminstered by ARG/CS included repointing the capstone joints, filling spalls and chips on the fountain marble, and repairing previous fills and masonry patches. The bronze sculptures were also cleaned of stains, bird droppings, and dirt and the entire fountain was protected with a new wax coating.