MPF Conservation conserved and/or restores two dozen pieces of Mason Monterey furniture from the Chateau at the Oregon Caves national Monument (NPS); this page features the Old Wood Mason Monterey Wingback Chair, which is part of the Museum Collection.
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When MPFC first picked up the Wingback, it was missing its historic cushion, and so the images above were the original before images. It had one in the listing, and this was confusing. It was quite a while before it was discovered that the Friend’s of the Oregon Caves Director had simply walked off it without following protocol, which meant getting permission from the curator and signing it out. The difference to us would have been creating a new authentic cushion, or canceling the conservation of the Wingback for the Museum Collection.
Finally the cushion was delivered to us, and the original wonky cushion can be seen above and left. It was misshapen and springs could be felt to be on their side through the showcover.
The inside back had almost no stuffing left.
The finish was extremely damaged and flaking, though we could determine that at this time it was Old Wood, not Smokey Maple. More on finish below.
Mitchell excavated all stuffings. Many decorative nails were compromised, image one, of the inside back, above. When Mitchell attempted removal of the nails, many of the caps popped off due to oxidation.
Underneath the decorative nails were long upholstery tacks which were removed, and of course, more tacks with each layer. The upholstery tacks also showed oxidation.
The layers of the inside back were lifted in one pod, with the historic showcover intact, left and image five, above.
The seat excavated, above. The seat topper (not shown here) came off in one piece, which was repaired with labels intact, below. This was followed by a burlap BLAH BLAH.
Mason did not build his tacking margins properly, so the jute webbing was partially on the tacking rail and partially on the corner blocks, above right.
The entire webbing was lifted, and the frame was disassembled. Mitchell disassembled the entire frame because it was quite rickety due to shrinkage. Small fractures were glued using hide glue and clamped to cure.
Tenons were properly shimmed to provide a snug fit in their mortise, before the entire frame was reassembled, leveled, and clamped to cure for several days.
The mystery of the finish is twofold.
The odd finish residue on the top of the back frame is a confusing. It had Chateau Orange paint residue (such as was found on the Mason Monterey Table Lamp), so we surmised the wingback had originally been Chateau Orange. Initially then, it would make sense that during the flood of 1964 it had lost its original finish and the NPS maintenance people had painted it in an Old Wood colored paint.
But then there are the drips on the crest above. over the compromised finish below.
The finish was spotty and it appeared to have gone through a second water event, but we have no idea when that occurred. Above, evidence of water damage is seen on the legs exhibiting water rings, and the pattern of flaking finish also indicates moisture.
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Above, finish before and after treatment.
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MPFC tested the showcover before cleaning, and hand-washed it in cold water. The showcover was extremely dirty, with It was gently hand-agitated rather than scrubbed,
The cushion cover and all other showcovier parts were hand-washed in cold water and laid flat to air dry.
After the spring filled cushion was repaired, it was wrapped and stuffed back into the cushion cover, above.
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The rear trim which was removed during the cleaning was replaced and the cushion hand-stitched.
The seat deck topper was also cleaned
It was ripped, and Mitchell overcast the raw edges, then stabilized it with a cloth tape. It was machine stitched to a stable hemp cloth before it was re-upholstered.
The inside and outside back (above) was reupholstered using the original cleaned stuffings.
The seat deck topper attached, with decorative nails, left.
The Old Wood Mason Monterey Wingback Chair was ready for the Museum Collection.
Before and after treatment, above and below.
