Circa 1890
Restoration For Our Friends Greg and Judy
October 2008
A nice leather over wood trunk that originally belonged to grandmother. After some quick
discussion, it was decided to retain the original nature while still making it appropriate for use in the
home. This trunk will most likely stay in their family and once things such as the original leather and
interior are removed, they can never be replaced. While neither is perfect, they are workable and I
liked the decision.
The original tray was missing and one is to be built for it.
was gone and it was to the point of essentially being suede and somewhat fragile with its thickness
on the decline. With leather trunks in this state, the more you try to do, the more chance of things
going badly. I pretty much just carefully worked the wood slats, removed the old handles, and then
went straight to the leather to get it protected. It was simply lightly "scuffed" with 000 steel wool and
cleaned no further. Additional efforts risk damage as well as losing the original tooling work if any is
present. From there, the process was started to add some oils, emollients (more is not better), and
additional protection. As with any "suede" like substance, when it comes in contact with a liquid, it
will darken. Some more than other, but this is to be expected. With the leather worked to a natural
sheen and smooth to the touch, some banding and hinge repairs were made, the hardware cleaned
up, and the flat metal painted black. The leather handles were made to not look new and installed
using the original keepers.
non-toxic sealant and then a tray built for the trunk. The original lithograph of a little girl that is either
pouting or missing someone is intact. What a wonderful litho to have in grandmothers trunk. It was
my pleasure to see it.
