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One of the best parts of my job is being able to get hands on with so much of the world's history. Usually it's just the simple task of handling the art or artifacts from place to place.
One of our largest corporate clients has an extensive collection of both art and antiquities. This particular corporation has a number of small museums in regional headquarters across the country. I was packing the contents of a one of those museums a few months ago outside of San Francisco.
In the collection was a roll top desk that had seen a few years. It was first put into service in 1876, and was used in downtown San Francisco until 1901 before going into storage. 5 years later, it would survive the 1906 earthquake and fire. 137 years of history ran past it. They had no place in storage for it and were afraid it would just have to be discarded. I offered to bring the desk home and give it a life. They accepted.
So, here's my latest project.
It is missing the left side handle for the roll top. The canvas holding the slide needs to be reinforced. There are a few drawers that need some tightening. But most of all, it needs some oil. I'm not looking to alter the patina, just bring some life back into the wood. She's beautiful, and definitely worth saving. I'm really looking forward to seeing it in my study in April.
One of our largest corporate clients has an extensive collection of both art and antiquities. This particular corporation has a number of small museums in regional headquarters across the country. I was packing the contents of a one of those museums a few months ago outside of San Francisco.
In the collection was a roll top desk that had seen a few years. It was first put into service in 1876, and was used in downtown San Francisco until 1901 before going into storage. 5 years later, it would survive the 1906 earthquake and fire. 137 years of history ran past it. They had no place in storage for it and were afraid it would just have to be discarded. I offered to bring the desk home and give it a life. They accepted.
So, here's my latest project.
It is missing the left side handle for the roll top. The canvas holding the slide needs to be reinforced. There are a few drawers that need some tightening. But most of all, it needs some oil. I'm not looking to alter the patina, just bring some life back into the wood. She's beautiful, and definitely worth saving. I'm really looking forward to seeing it in my study in April.
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