Patch-Up Job

In September Jody and I lent a hand to the restoration of one of the historic homes in Anaheim, a 2-story Victorian house built in the late 1800s.  As the whole house had recently been lifted off its foundation and relocated to a new street, some of the home's interior details had suffered during the move.

  

This beautiful plaster corbel is one of several that had decorated a dining room window. Tragically, during the move all the corbels had come loose and were smashed on the floor. Only this one, broken into four pieces, was remotely salvageable.

After gluing the pieces back together, we very carefully removed a century of paint layers, uncovering the crisp details of the original sculpture. Then the cracks were filled and smoothed,  and a few small details that had chipped away were resculpted. When it was all done, the corbel was handed over to a moldmaker to cast replacements for the ones that had been destroyed.

Soon we'll get to see the corbels replaced in the newly restored dining room, and a little bit of history will live on.  Stay tuned!