What is probably the biggest art conservation project undertaken in New Zealand was wrapped up in Dunedin yesterday.
The two 20.4m by 3.6m watercolour-on-linen murals were discovered in May during demolition of Garrison Hall in Port Chalmers, where they had been hidden behind the walls for 100 years.
"We're drying them out and putting them on rolls, then they'll be treated and sent to the Settlers Museum," architectural conservator Guy Williams said yesterday.
"Some of it might go to the Port Chalmers Museum. But a final decision on what will happen has still to be made."
The mural was created for a Japanese-themed festival by David Ogilvy Robertson, "assisted by Mr D. Fletcher and a staff of assistants", the Otago Daily Times reported in 1892.
Mr Williams said it took half a dozen volunteers five days to remove the murals from the hall.
"It came down quite quick. It was quite damp in places. We looked at all sorts of options to get it off the wall and, in the end, we just clipped the nail heads off and punched through the tacks. It took about four or five days, in all."
The 22 panels were laid out on 1.8m by 3.6m sections of Tyvek, a stable fabric used in conservation work, and sequentially numbered so the complete mural could be rolled out across a wall, Mr Williams said.
The next stage would see the sections exposed to a gas treatment provided by Port Otago.
"The gas kills all the bugs and anything else that might be there."
Mr Williams said he was "utterly gobsmacked" when the murals were discovered in May.
"It's very rare to find something like this."
Dunedin architectural historian Peter Entwisle said it was a special artefact that deserved to be preserved.
"It's certainly very unusual. It's not a great artwork. We're not talking abut the New Zealand version of the Sistine Chapel or anything, but it is of great social and historical significance," he said yesterday.
"It was made as a temporary thing; like a stage set. It's an incredible challenge to restore it. It is a major exercise. I've never seen one on that scale before. It's far and away the biggest one I've ever seen."
The restoration project also involved the Historic Places Trust, the Dunedin City Council, Dunedin Public Art Gallery, Port Chalmers Historical Society and Otago Settlers Museum.
