Need Help Cleaning this Beautiful Carving

[Merlion]

This stone carving is not my work. It is a very beautiful piece which I got cheap from a Salvation Army store, at $100 (the base is slightly chipped). I think it is granite. You can see the size from a one foot rule I place in one of the pictures.

It needs some cleaning and waxing, and perhaps some polishing. But this type of work is new to me. Advice and comments are welcome.

Edit: By the way, this reminds me of the Wall Street Bull.

Sorry the files are too big for this forum. I'll type in the URLs.

[Merlion]

I went ahead to give it some cleaning just now. This carving seems to have been placed on the floor of this secondhand store for a long time, gathering a lot of dust, as well as some white paint like spots.

As I understand granite is not porous unlike marble. I gave it a bath of soap, water and brush. This does not seem good enough so I wipe it well with turpentine. This manage to remove quite a bit of dark dirt and perhaps wax.

It now has less shine due to the removed wax. Now what do I do next?

[racine]

M, buff it up with a white turpentine based wax... i use one called rennaissance wax from uk but probably a clear shoe or car wax may do, just like a shooshine..! always test a bit first.. probably make those stone sculptors here scream....

[Blacksun]

No screaming here....Ren. wax is good, any clear paste wax...J&J is a favorite of mine for granite.... in a pinch, clear kiwi brand shoe polish.... Key is to make light coats, clear all excess before it drys & buff well between coats....

[sculptor]

Originally Posted by Merlion

...
Edit: By the way, this reminds me of the Wall Street Bull.

'cepting, it's a water buffalo, and it ain't getting eaten by a bear (nor a dragon)
heckuva mess her merlion
how's the economy there?

make sure all the old wax is off before adding new
i'd warm it before applying wax(get real thin coat that way)

rod

[Merlion]

Thanks guys for your advice. Here below is a better picture to show the real color. I assume it is granite as it is heavy and hard and the broken edge has shiny grains. But I am not familar with similar hard stones.



By the way, Sculptor, our banks are not affected directly by the Wall Street global credit crisis. But our economy is very open, and has suddenly gone bad. We are the first Asian country to go into a technical recession.