A project from years ago was the restoration of this Philadelphia dressing table c. 1775 that had been significantly damaged and had undergone an extensive restoration in the past. The previous restoration, which included the creation of three new legs and their fluted corner columns, was well intended but the new parts did not match, … Continue reading Philadelphia Dressing Table Restoration, Part 1, First Look
Month: March 2015
Another Bonnet
A nearly identical high chest to the signed Henry Cliffton/Thomas Carteret at Colonial Williamsburg was sold in 2008. This image of the cornice shows a bonnet with a shaped bolt of yellow poplar fixed between the top of the scroll mouldings and the backboard. No carved shell drawers in chests made in Philadelphia during the … Continue reading Another Bonnet
Asa Ames (1823-1851), Carver
The 2015 "Working Wood in the 18th Century" conference was held in the auditorium of the DeWitt Wallace Decorative Arts Museum, Williamsburg, Virginia. Much of my free time was spent roaming the galleries of the museum. At times it felt like old home week as there was so much carved material from the early 18th … Continue reading Asa Ames (1823-1851), Carver
From the Archives
I am slowly scanning and processing decades worth of images from B.D. (Before Digital) This black walnut desk was probably made in Chester County, Pennsylvania, c. 1770. I was quite new to the world of furniture restoration then and even though this was a remarkable and complicated object I assumed I would come across this … Continue reading From the Archives
In Proportion to the Trouble 