The Tryon Palace represents North Carolina's 18th century seat of English government and is recognized as one of this country's most accurate and thoroughly documented reconstructions of a major colonial period structure. Actual construction of the building was started in 1950, the large coat-of-arms of King George III was raised to the north pediment of the building in 1957 and the doors were opened to the public in 1959. The making of the coat-of-arms was supervised in England by Sir John Heaton-Armstrong, of the College of Arms in London, and carved by E. and A. Bradford of New Gate. The substrate is made of mahogany with a gilded and polychromed surface. Three main areas involved in the treatment of the coat-of-arms: the condition of the original along with the extent of the treatment; the moldmaking and casting of the reproduction; final placement and the issue involved in replacing the original coat-of-arms with a reproduction.