Monthly Archives: July 2016

Ludwig L. Blake Michigan Landscape

Posted by millerfenwood in Works on Canvas

Michigan landscape by Ludwig L. Blake (1870-1957) had a couple tears that were more of a challenge to repair due to the deteriorated canvas. The painting dates from 1948.

Blake is best known for his “Blake Gardens,” near Roseland, Indiana. The property was originally known as “The Pie House,” a favorite among Notre Dame students. After twenty years of landscaping—diverting one creek, constructing several bridges, benches, and railings, and planting 1,000 pine seedlings—the gardens became a popular spot for poetry readings, classical concerts and weddings; as well as an ideal subject for painting.

 

South Bend Tribune: Throwback Thursday: When people flocked to pastoral Blake Gardens near Roseland

Deming and Bulkley Card Tables

Posted by millerfenwood in Furniture Restoration

Deming and Bulkley were a high-end furniture manufacture in the 1800’s. While based in New York, they found a lucrative market in Charlestown, South Carolina; which was one of the wealthiest cities in America, and the largest seaport in the South. Their furniture had a reputation for quality, neatness, elegance, and strength, with tastes marketed as true to the “the latest New York fashion.”

On February 3, 1824, the Charleston Courier published a letter written under the pseudonym “Franklin”: “The writer of this, however, cannot pass unnoticed, the elegant patterns of Cabinet Work, executed by Messrs. deming & bulkley, of this city. There are two pieces of this work, which will not suffer in comparison with the best specimens ever imported from Europe, either in point of taste or workmanship.”

Two card tables, attributed to Deming and Bulkley, and beautifully ornamented with legs carved like a hybrid fish-whale species, came in with de-lamination, and cracks in the original boards. We will update as the restoration continues. Stay tuned…

 

 

Piranesi

Posted by millerfenwood in Works on Paper

Giovanni Battista Piranesi  (1720 – 1778) was a major Italian printmaker, architect and antiquarian. This intaglio, The Pier with a Lamp, is number 15 of 16, in a series called Imaginary Prisons.

The work came in with a crease, where it had been folded to fit within its frame. Foxing and stains from wood-acid were lifted by chemical baths; and the brittle, cracking portions were strengthened with a conditioner.