Our client’s goals were to preserve and restore her Grandfather’s steamer trunk, which was also used by her Father, while keeping as much of the history intact. She wanted it to appear historic, not new, but it was terribly damaged. We kept this goal in mind as we chose how to allow the history to be seen, while making the inside a clean surface that one could store linens in with no worries.
Above left, before treatment, right, after treatment.
Below, a slideshow of the steamer trunk before treatment.
This was possibly the most damaged steamer trunk we’ve had in our studio, and the results of restoration were spectacular!
EXCAVATION
The reasons items needed to be excavated (removed or disassembled) were two-fold:
- They were going to be replaced by a replicated part, or
- The part had to be repaired before reassembly.
The locking mechanism was removed, above and right, for two reasons. It was loose and jiggled, but also the lock itself needed a bit of work.
The lock hasp was twisted and would no longer align with the lock mortise in the upper trunk lid.
Many parts inside the trunk needed to be repaired or recreated. The structural body of the trunk was comprised of Southern Yellow Pine boards, and the intense abuse through shipping (historical, not to us) and personal use resulted in a great deal of damage to the pine substrates, especially around hardware connections. Subsequent DIY repairs on loose connections exacerbated damage, resulting in dramatic losses of connective substrate.
Supports for an internal shelf were worn and needed replacement, below left. In the process of removing them, we found a much loved image of Elizabeth Taylor ca 1950 hidden in the base. Someone had a crush and kept her close! This, like all artifacts found in restorations, was returned to the client.
Mitchell removed the historic damaged leather parts, left and below. They were not discarded, but rather studied how they were created and/or layered in order to replicate them.
Note the beautiful detail of the original leather straps, which were embossed, left and below in image #3. We can see this because it was safely hidden by the leather tab that lay over the top. The replacement straps were not embossed, as our client’s budget would not allow custom embossing.
Note: MPFC will emboss leather items to correspond to original motifs if requested.
REPLICATION
Several leather parts were replicated: handles, straps, and the butterfly-shaped tabs holding leathers.
In this case the leather handles were custom-made by another person. He bases his replication from the steamer trunk information he has, or the sample the client can show him.
We are showing you our replication process for leather parts from another steamer trunk which we restored, above, which we are not documenting because that trunk was not for the blog due to the variety of trunks we have treated. (See the metal steamer trunk at the bottom of this post*, and how we choose our blog post items.)
We often make them ourselves, depending upon our client’s budget, because we can have a bit more control over the outcome relative to dimensions and design (accuracy to the historic pieces).
Purchasing them is still another option.
Completed leather parts, cut, sewn, colored, and ready to be reattached, right.
REPARATION
Reparation was a many-layered task, and involved both the inside and outside with multiple materials.
FILLING HOLES AND CRACKS
In some cases, the reparation of the holes went through the body of the trunk,
shown below, and had to be trimmed both inside and outside.
Above, various holes from attaching leather tabs were filled using hardwood picks inserted into the holes with a gap-filling PVA glue. (Note: We do not use toothpicks which are a softer wood.). The glue was allowed to cure three days. (Note: If you follow other posts you will see we also use hide glue.)
After it is cured, the hard picks are sawed down with a Japanese hand saw, and then leveled to the surface with a dremel, as necessary.
On the sides of the steamer trunk, many holes went through and protruded inside; both sides were leveled, above.
Cracks in the wood structure, such as the one shown left, were separated slightly and glue was inserted into the crack. It could not be clamped to cure, but heavy sandbags sometimes can assist in holding the crack in place during cure time.
METAL PARTS
All the metal parts had developed oxidation accretions, shown above in images #1-#2. These are accretions of metal oxides combined with environmental materials, such as smoke, outdoor pollutants, etc., and in this case, bits of paint.
A dremel was used to buff the accretions and paint off the metals, though care was taken not to over-buff them, image #3 above. Our client wanted the trunk to look older.
The final appearance: the metal is clean, but still appears as it should after a century, shown in image #4 above, and right.
INTERIOR
The interior paper was damaged and also smelled poorly. We used an industrial negative ion generator for 8 hours over three days to neutralize the mildew spores, which returned the interior aromatic woods to their original conifer fragrance.
Clean rips like the one shown left in the historic paper were glued using a white glue brushed on, then weighted during curing.
©Araldite (no longer made, sadly), helped to fill large and small gaps in the pine boards.
Below, the interior was ready for the upholstery.
UNDERSIDE
The underside of the trunk had three issues:
- The historic wheels were damaged and beyond repair;
- The metal cladding was damaged, needed repair, and a rust-proof finish;
- The wood was damaged and needed finish work (see the FINISH SECTION).
We chose to replace the wheels, shown above. The old wheels were removed, and placed into a storage bag to be returned to our client. (We advise owners to save a sampling of the historic material for their families in the steamer trunk.)
The original holes were filled using larger hardwood picks, in the manner discussed above.
New steamer trunk wheels were installed which did not conform to the shape of the old wheels, but worked well for the trunk.
The metal cladding was lifting and torn, and the wood substructure was gouged. The lifting cladding was tacked into place with brass studs.
The gouged pine substructure was isolated by tape, and infilled with Araldite and left to cure.
After curing, the tape was removed and the ©Araldite was sanded to match the level of the surrounding area.
EXTERIOR REPARATION
The exterior has several surface issues:
The canvas upholstery all over the outside was tattered and shredded, shown right. The loose threads were clipped close in preparation for the finish restoration.
Wax drippings were found in several places, shown above. Wax is compatible with many finish techniques, so we softened and removed the wax as much as possible, then flattened it further with a hot tool which readied it for the oil paint top coat.
The applied exterior wood showed various colors of paint, and also splintering in several places, shown above. We removed the paint and sanded the wood accordingly to remove splintering, and it was ready for finish work.
FINISH
UNDERSIDE FINISH
We began with the underside first, partly because the steamer trunk could then be stood on its wheels to cure without worrying about touching it, allowing us to immediately work on the other sides.
The metal was sanded with a sanding block to ensure adhesion, then coated with two coats of ©Rustoleum, shown left.
The wood slats on the underside were coated with two light coats of shellac to seal and protect the wood, shown left.
EXTERIOR FINISH
The actual color of the painted finish was not black, but a very dark green.
Kate replicated the color using the ©1980 Oil paints from Gamblin paints, in a mixture of Raw Umber and Olive Green, right, using ©Galkyd Lite as needed for viscosity. (Note, the ©1980 line was discontinued, and we were sorry; it was a less pigmented version of oil paint meant for sketches, and served us well in our business.)
Kate edged the canvas areas with a detail brush, shown in images #1-#2, above, then used a wider brush to cover the canvas, image #3.
All raw wood was covered with a coat of clear shellac which we mix in studio from pure shellac flakes and alcohol, shown left. It has no additives, so is historically accurate shellac.
The wood slats were given several coats of Blonde shellac over several days, allowing a nice buildup of a strong protective coat.
This buildup enriched the lovely color of the slats on the steamer trunk, shown right.
WAX
The final finish step was to wax the surfaces of the steamer trunk. All surfaces had a coat of Liberon’s Clear Wax Polish Black Bison applied, rubbed, and then brushed to a warm patina.
This also protected the finish on the steamer trunk.
THE LEATHER STRAPPING IS REATTACHED
The new leather parts were reattached into their original places.
The conserved holes were re-drilled, and brass studs were applied where applicable, above. After a tarnishing liquid made the brass appear old.
The new handles were placed on each side, and the metal reattached on the bottom with brass studs, then also tarnished with a brushed liquid.
The “butterfly” tabs held the strapping leather (with buckles) in place, shown below.
The exterior was completed!
UPHOLSTERY
The interior of the lid was upholstered with the new fabric over quilters cotton, and a decorative gimp braid applied over the seams.
PANEL SYSTEM
The interior is where we met the requirements to allow our client to be able to see the history of the interior, and still have a nice clean soft place to store blankets or other soft items.
We created a panel system using 1/4″ finished white fir plywood, which was then wrapped with quilters cotton and upholstered with a cotton muslin undercover. The showcover, a ticking stripe, was applied over the panels, making certain to match stripes.
Leather tabs were installed on the interior panels; the tabs protruded from the edge so that our client could grab the tabs and remove the panels with ease.
Panels were created to shim snugly into corners, preventing panels from movement, but allowing our client to remove them occasionally if they wanted to see the original paper covering underneaths.
A NEW INTERIOR SHELF
The new interior shelf was created using fabric hinging so it could be lifted from either side, to access the space underneath.
White oak struts were applied to both panel bottoms to prevent the panels from sagging under weight when our client laid items onto the shelf.
SECURING THE LID
At one time the lid had a mechanism not unlike the one we created that kept the lid stable, and kept it a bit upright, so it did not fall back, which is not good for the hinges. That was lost, and a leather strap was used until it broke, and it had been missing for as long as anyone could remember.
We ordered the parts, and recreated it by aging the various metal parts which create/attach the hinge.
We re-drilled into the body of the base and lid to attach the arm. Mitchell placed a plastic circle against the fabric to help protect the fabric from wear over time.
COMPLETION
The trunk is now used daily in our client’s home in the family room!
Above, you see the steamer trunk from various angles just before it was sent away.
Below you can see into the inside of the trunk.
Our clients use the top shelf for some of his camera equipment, and store overnight blankets in the bottom area for visiting guests or just to curl into on a cold night while watching movies.
HOW DO WE DECIDE WHAT TO PUBLISH?*
We base the choices on what reparations are most representative of a wider object restoration, and also, how well documented is the project. Occasionally we have lost images in a computer glitch even before they were backed up, and that is sometimes a deciding factor.
In this case, the painted metal steamer trunk (below) was not chosen because it had fewer materials. One interesting attribute was the removable top shelf with compartments, shown left.
We offer images of the trunk, and a link to another, below.
☾
dkatiepowell @ aol.com / mitchellrpowell @ aol.com
(So sorry, but we got too much spam — please copy and remove the spaces!)
503.970.2509 / 541.531.2383
©MPF Conservation. May be printed for your own use.
Notify us if you repost, and use our url + copyright in reference.
They want to know if I can tell them about their family quilt, and of course, I can tell them some things relative to design and age, but not the provenance (who made it, their relationship, their location). This is sad, because if the quilt had been maintained in good antique condition, it might have been gently used or brought out and displayed when a family gathering occurred, and the story of the quilt would have been told to people in the family.
We had to think of ways to reuse items that should be disposable… It was impossible, for instance, to get gloves. Most places made you register as a medical facility to purchase.
We use small and large
