On Wed, 03 Nov 2004 07:44:01 -0500, Tom Watson
wrote:

I've seen the G-T secretaries in Boston MoFA and they're nowhere near
the same cherryade colour as these pieces were on my monitor.

Do not mistake the patinated finish for the original finish. Look at
a conservator's sample of the original and you might be surprised.

Last time I was in Boston was to give a couple of papers at a museums
conference. As curators and librarians have much the same worldwide
mafia as other niche crafts, I was lucky enough to get inside the
furniture stores and workshops for a real tour around. Still not
cherryade though.

I admit I have almost no experience with cherry. It's an American
timber, we just don't see it in the UK (good stuff anyway). I've a
couple of boards sitting here, but they don't show anything like the
colour changing I hear about from you guys. Is UK cherry the same
species, or is it like white oak ? -- close enough for retail, but
not really the same thing to work with.


You may recall some years back when the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel
was being restored. Some people were horrified by what they
considered to be the garish and far too bright colors that were being
revealed. Surely these could not be the original colors?

But they were.

Even that's debatable, but that's a topic for the conservator lists
8-)

--
Smert' spamionam