This pair of Chinese screens were salvaged from their modern installations. They will go into Mahogany frames, but first the deteriorating areas were mended with adhesives and clamps. There were a few areas with paint loss, and these received a touch of in-painting.
Decorative brass tray from the Middle East came in with a series of ailments. A fall had left it with a dent and reaggravated its decorative elements along the edge which had been fixed once before. Furthermore, some rough soldering was left behind from another attempt at repairs.
The first task was to clean the tray. This was followed by removing the uneven soldering and bending the troubled portion back to square. Along the edge the decorative element was fastened to the tray with copper pins but a number had jumped out of their holes when the tray was dropped. We replaced them and made sure they were fixed into their holes as firmly as possible. Museum wax used as a final step to help protect the work. This is a wonderful tray with intricate decorations that can be used as a serving tray or a wall ornament.
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…
18th Century Dutch Kast suffered from extensive warping, which caused a number of problems: cracked pieces, ill-fit doors, and broken veneer made with exotic wood. Due to the scale of the warping, the restoration had to be done piecemeal, and then carefully reassembled without compromising the function of the kast, especially its moving parts. With woodworking, this is often a tricky aspect.
