From the Crowe Collection this piece came to us stripped.
We do not strip pieces, and this was also chemically stripped.
At most we skip sand items to raise grain for finish work.
The stripping not only left minor cracks, but raised the grain in an unhelpful manner. We first sanded the raw lifted grain up to facilitate finish work.
It appeared to us that the side table was originally Straw Yellow, which the granddaughter confirmed, as she remembered it from her youth.
It has beautiful California tiles intact!
One of the front decorative pieces was missing, and Mitchell crafted a replica.
We secured it and also secured the original so it would not get lost.
Finally, Kate painted it in the original color,
Straw Yellow, which is a undercoat of a yellow oil paint
with a topcoat of Smokey Maple glaze.
We have it for sale on our website
but frankly Kate’s not keen on parting with it!
This Mognat of Paris family steamer trunk ca 1900, has been round the world many times. The heirs brought it to us to clean, stabilize the inner lining, create new handles, and to preserve the character of the outer trunk memories if possible — stickers!
MPF Conservation (MPFC) is located in Portland, Oregon, USA.
We treat objects all over the Pacific Northwest, down into California, and west to Idaho, Montana and Nevada.
dkatiepowell [@} aol.com / mitchellrpowell [@] aol.com (So sorry, but we got too much spam; please copy and remove the spaces and [ ] to make the links live!) 503.970.2509 / 541.531.2383
This Mognat of Paris family steamer trunk ca 1900, has been round the world many times. The heirs brought it to us to clean, stabilize the inner lining, create new handles, and to preserve the character of the outer trunk memories if possible — stickers!
NOTE: We were posting and Covid hit, and suddenly our business became about finding ways to navigate the many issues Covid brought about, such as finding supplies from closed companies, etc. We are beginning to post again regularly, but first I am picking up on two projects from over a year ago to finish!
The upper insert with its degrading lining (above)
and ties will be removed, cleaned, and stabilized.
Bottom and top lining is is good condition: we will test it for cleaning
and see if it is a good candidate for cleaning while attached.
Before
After
Before
After
To begin, a thorough vacuuming of the textile insert to remove debris, and also find missing tacks. Some of the “dirt” on the inside top was removed with the vacuum
The lining inside was badly ripped around the main lock when it came to us, above left.
We would prefer to carefully reglue it as we have done below in corners;
this is important to collectors, and while this is a piece for our clients,
unless directed to replace it we will not. However, we hand-dyed fabric along with our internal gimp in case we need any bits with which to lay behind it before regluing.
Above, an example of carefully regluing tattered ends using a water soluble glue.
The sagging ripping insert lining was in decent condition;
we took a very sharp blade to remove it as it was tucked deep into the crevices. Additionally it was glued into corners and along a flange coming from under the top inserted shelf. It is our intention to reuse the original lining.
This original insert lining was gently cleaned, blocked, and backed with a second lining underneath to stabilize the original. A small gimp trim (reversible as it is applied with water soluble glue) will be the only visible new addition to the the clothing insert tray.
Additionally, the inner handles and strappings were gently cleaned while attached.
OUTSIDE
BEFORE
AFTER, METAL MOGNAT MEDALLION
BEFORE
DURING
DURING, UNDER METAL PARTS
DURING CREVICES
BEFORE
AFTER, LIGHTENED OF GRIME
The exterior of the steamer trunk was very grimy and had what might have
been very old gum attached to it. First the metal parts were cleaned, but not overly brightened. We want the trunk to look old and well-appointed, rather than new.
BEFORE
AFTER CLEANING
Finally the body of the exterior of the trunk
is gently cleaned of layers of grime.
BEFORE
DURING
AFTER
BEFORE
AFTER
BEFORE
When the cleaning is complete, we can see a real difference.
BEFORE
SKIP SAND
OUR OWN PURE SHELLAC
SHELLAC
SHELLAC
The aging wood is treated to layers of new platina shellac,
which warms the color of the wood as well.
POLISH
AFTER CLEANING
AFTER
AFTER
The trunk was waxed with clear Black Bison to protect.
Leather handles were created, fitted and ready for installation, above.
We had to wait a long time
for proper rivets during this pandemic!
Rivets installed, finally, below!
Final post, the completed chest, will be posted this week!
Note: Some of the changes in color are due to
using two cameras and different lighting!
I bought a lovely Del Rey set owned by one family, and am getting it ready to sell it.
Unlike most Monterey styles, this Del Rey set would fit even in an apartment, a kitchen,
or guest house, it is so compact. It is adorable — and I rarely use that word! Part 1 of the cleaning of this set is here.
Lovely set was almost ready for the infill, top coat, and wax.
I would have left the woman and her donkey as is, except that both were splintering, which made me decide to gently sand the splinters and infill to preserve.
Chairs cleaned, but missing paint.
I mixed matching historic paints, a bit tricky due to the overcoats. Some paints were made of paint pigments no longer in use, and the old formulas varied wildly from batch to batch due to the nature of the raw materials. We’ve treated dozens of pieces of Mason Monterey, as well as Coronado and Imperial Monterey styles, and I’ve created paint chips for all the colors of paints, and have notes on the written formulas.
Del Rey is new to me, and there were colors that matched Mason. However, I still had to mix colors, such as the lovely turquoise of her skirt.
Reparation infill begins to fill seriously damaged areas. The knobs were originally orange but many had lost most of their paint, and two were splintering!
Infill was needed on most of the decorative areas, though we only infilled what was necessary. Some paint for the decorative figures on the table and chairs were lifting, so both a seal (which you can’t see in the images) and infill was used to preserve.
The topcoat was removed by grease in many areas.
A sealer coat was placed on the table and hutch before the top coat of paint was placed all over all pieces. The top coat also acts as a second seal for loose paint. It is too shiny in these pictures, but was taken down after the paint cured to match the paint in the well-preserved chair (ours), above.
The goal is to have a set that is functional, safe,
and preserves as much of the original finish as possible.
We are happy to see the back of 2021 in so many ways!
It’s been a tough couple of years, trying to do business during Covid,
with shortages in staffing and materials in many vendor businesses, and also,
some people did a Jekyll/Hyde thang where the worst in them arose,
while others became more patient, even saintly!
Going into 2022, everyone’s New Year’s Resolution should
be to be more kind and patient than ever before,
because we are not out of the woods yet.
We are going to hibernate a lot this holiday…
unplug completely and be still and recharge our energy.
We will be back January 5th, rested and ready for a shift in a better New Year.
The historic cushions placed onto the newly upholstered frame, above.
Mitchell took notes on any changes he might want to make.
the pieced remnant of the torn showcover…
A pattern was created for the showcover…
An outer layer of cotton was simply too filthy…
Exposing the springs…
The inner cotton could be cleaned and reused
The springs were cleaned to reuse…
The historic tag left on!
Mitchell did a bit or reparation….
A new envelope was created…
Sewn…
And the conserved springs inserted…
The spring unit was secured to the covering…
A new layer of cotton wrapped the historic cushion…
The external cushion cover was sewn…
The cushion was stuffed and stitched into place.
We began with the inside back cushion.
The cushion was carefully excavated, and each layer was inspected and considered for reuse where possible. Those parts that were able to be reused were cleaned and/or carded.
A new ticking was created, and the new buildup of both historic and new materials executed into a new inside back cushion, ready for its showcover.
The same process was performed for the seat cushion, above, except that a new seat cushion was created to replace the old as the historic springs were quite worn.
In the last image above you can see the new cushion height compared to the old.
Once the cushions were rebuilt, the show cover was upholstered.
The showcover is a richly embroidered landscape of critter activities!
Mitchell cut the cushion upholstery to make sure that in each cushion,
all the critters and flowers were represented.
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The boxings and small edging was made of the same leather that upholstered the frame, and the underside of the cushion was also leather, so the chair has the possibility of being seen in three ways, below.
Completed Mason Monterey Chair.
Completed Mason Monterey Chair.
Completed Mason Monterey Chair.
The chair is now ready for
another 75 years of love!
Progress up to this post is shown below in a slide show.
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In this case, when we talk upholstery we are speaking of upholstering the frame;
a bit later on we will upholster the cushions in the two showcovers,
leather and a fun fabric that George Mason would have enjoyed!
Because this piece is a creation from the American Depression Era,
we chose to use an upholstery form that we coined “traditional-modern” upholstery.
It is the combining and placement of traditional natural fiber stuffings and
lashing techniques, coupled with modern, machine-made, per-fabricated edgerolls.
The leather showcover on the seat was sewn and readied…
I love the pretty hemp cloth used in the center and wish we could get more
but it is discontinued. Beautiful under-cloths!
Horse hair is hand carded…..
Horse hair is hand carded…
Cotton topper…
Upholstery show cover is placed…
Coir applied…
Hair on top of coir and stitched into place.
Cotton topper applied over coir…
Cotton topper applied over coir…
Second application of cotton topper applied…
Leather is tacked into place…
Note the lovely hemp cloth in the center.
Seat buildup using various hairs, organic cotton, coir, and finally the leather.
Inside back is webbed…
Jute topper and edgeroll…
First layer of horse hair…
Second layer of horse hair…
Cotton topper on inside back over horse hair and on edgeroll…
Final cotton topper.
The lovely leather showcover is tacked into place.
The inside back, above:
both the seat and the inside back will be covered by cushions.
The outside back before upholstery, showing the jute webbing.
The stripping not only left minor cracks, but raised the grain in an unhelpful manner. We first sanded the raw lifted grain up to facilitate finish work.
