Installation project examples
Reproduction Ingrain, Georgian Room, Wintherthur Museum, Garden & Library, Winterthur Delaware
Winterthur, an American country estate, is the former home of Henry Francis du Pont (1880-1969), an avid antiques collector and horticulturist. With the extensive nature of his collection, it was only appropriate that the entire estate would become one of the nation's finest museums.
From Winterthur's website: "a visit to Winterthur will immerse you in another time and place. Rediscover America's heritage through its unparalleled collections of antiques and Americana."
One of Dupont's interests was collecting architecture, to the point of moving and erecting rooms and facades of other buildings in their entirety. One of the largest exhibits in the museum is a street corner with the fronts of several multi-story homes captured in an idyllic picture of preservation.
During the acquisition of some Georgian architecture, Shaneybrook's was asked to prepare a reproduction ingrain carpet and install it in the new period room being added to the museum.
Once the strips of ingrain were properly sown together at our workshop, the focus of the project turned to the rug padding. Special study had to be given to all the padding available on today's market (which proved fruitless). As padding ages, certain materials and chemicals change to a gaseous state. There was great concern to the elements that comprised the padding, particularly adhesives. Adjacent to the Georgian room, another exhibit features four Paul Revere silver tankards. The aging of the padding could detrimentally affect the silver and so, an alternative solution had to be found. After eight months of study and searching, the conservation staff created a padding of a neutral poly felt material determined to be completely inert; it would protect the new ingrain carpet, the original floor boards, and not cause any damage to the silver or any other items in the museum collections.
Click here to visit the official Winterthur Museum, Garden & Library website.
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
