With our century-old box cleaned, finished, and re-lined, the only remaining job is to make a custom-fitted pen storage space, using the existing tray. Pens are designed to be used, but can also be inherently fragile, so this is an important detail if this box is to be truly functional. 1. Materials We need a […]
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Re-purposing a Box—Part 5, Paper Lining
We are now well along in our work on this century-old box, and we now face the biggest challenge thus far. You may remember that we were unable to salvage the original green velvet lining due to both wear and animal damage. We do, however, have an excellent option for replacement: hand-marbled paper. Marbled paper […]
Re-purposing a Box—Part 4, Hardware
Some of the oldest boxes extant are held together with only wood, or perhaps with a few nails. By the 19th century, however, few of them were produced without decorative brass hardware. By the early 1900s—when our box was made—the Arts & Crafts movement put an emphasis on plain, simple parts made of copper, brass, […]
Re-purposing a Box—Part 3, Exterior Finish
After our initial assessment and de-construction, the next step in our process is to look after the exterior finish. In the case of this box, the finish is in quite good condition, so our efforts will be minimal. 1. The Original Finish In our last post, we talked a little about how to use intact […]
Re-purposing a Box—Part 2, Deconstruction
The first step in working on a piece—like this rather forlorn, century-old box—is a good assessment. Sometimes this requires nothing more than our five senses and experience. 1. Assessment In this case, we know right away that the interior is irredeemable. The edges are quite thread-bare, and the cloth smells strongly of mice. In our […]
Re-purposing a Box—Part 1
One of the things we enjoy about restoration and conservation is that sometimes you come into an artifact that is sad and forlorn; whether it be due to damage, humility, or other reasons, there is no reason to conserve it, and it just isn’t sensible to do a full restoration. However, that doesn’t mean that […]
