Featured Restoring a Georgian-era Writing Slope

This is a good article it does mention being able to make a key but doesn't make it clear if the key can be made without taking the lock apart or just after it's been picked. https://www.mattblaze.org/photos/misc/bramah/

 

I found this page to be a nice overview of how devilishly complex the Bramah lock is: https://www.antiquebox.org/bramah-locks/

 

Bramah locks were notorious for their complexity. Springs and blades and everything. No wonder they were considered tamper-proof.

 

Well all, here's an update on the box: Finding only 3 contacts in the AIC database within a 200 mile radius of me, I tried contacting each; 1 did not respond, 1 couldn't help for medical reasons, the 3rd couldn't help but pointed me to another, who turned out to be one of the handful of master boulle workers in the US. Drove 3 hours up and back to meet with him for about 2 1/2 hours - 80 years old, an absolute fountain of knowledge and history, been in the conservation business 50 years, learned his craft at the famous Ecole Boulle in Paris and at the Smithsonian Institute, still does lots of contract work for museums around the country and has restored some writing slopes in the past. He stated this box is the finest he's seen, that the boulle work is exquisite, the boulle inlay could be ebony but could also be black tortoise shell, the box is rosewood over most likely Cuban mahogany, ... and many other things. Bottom line estimate (after a lot of discussion and consideration) for the brass restoration only, was $2500, using his own boulle chevalet that he built 20 years ago.

That's clearly on the high end of what I was thinking - but we both understood that it would be an investment. Having this man's name associated with the restoration work I think could also increase its value - but we both came away to think things over more. Thoughts anyone?

 

Personally, regardless of your decision, spending 2 1/2 hours with someone like that and learning more about your piece was a priceless experience...

~Cheryl

 

you get stuck with the master........you pay the master !

or....

knowing the boxes highest caliber..... you sell it , and find one you can afford to keep.

or...

you tell him , thank you......and keep the box as a minor flawed , fantastic antique !!!

 

My thoughts, it's not Cuban mahogany, Cuban mahogany is very dark and by the time this was made Cuban mahogany would have been the exterior wood on show. This doesn't detract from the quality of the slope, it's about the best you can get for an English made slope, carved ebony slopes from India may be more expensive but this has all the hallmarks of the finest slopes money can buy.
Saying all that I don't think it's worth spending $2500 on restoring it, the reason for me saying this is because it doesn't need that much work. Boulle restorers often work for people who don't make profits like museums ect. In the UK a restoration like this would be bread and butter for most restorers and wouldn't need a Boulle restorer, personally I think it's ebony or maybe buffalo horn (from India) this would be a very good alternative if it is black tortoise shell as in the UK tortoise shell wouldn't be allowed anyway. Of course if you have a boulle chevalet it makes the job easier but you don't need one, any jeweller would easily be able to fretsaw this out if you can't do it yourself. Restoration costs are sometimes stupid, have you been around antiques stores to ask who does theirs? You might find there are many more local to you who don't specialise in Boulle but can do the work anyway. I would have thought a far more realistic price for the US would be $800-$1000, at least at that price you still have profit, in the UK I wouldn't expect more than £600 for the finest job. Why not try doing the work yourself? It wont cost much for the brass and a sheet of ebony and if it is buffalo horn even cheaper as that can be found in pet shops as a chew toy for dogs or bought on ebay, it may take you 20x as long but well worth the time. If you do decide to do it by yourself I'm happy to take you through it step by step but I will need detailed photos as you go.

 

Boulle restorers often work for people who don't make profits like museums ect.

A good point !

 

Very much appreciate the replies on this! I will continue to look and ask around the fine furniture/clock restorers and antiquers locally. Thanks for the thoughts on doing the work myself - but there's no chance I could do this type of work, the brass boulle detail is literally as thin as a pin in many places, you'd need an extremely deft hand and finely sharpened tools to do the work I reckon. I'll try jewelers as well, and report back again.

 

This is a passion project no matter what. If I had $2500 to spare laying around, I might well have gone for it, bearing in mind that you'll likely never get that much out of it if you sell it. You'll never have the chance to get a museum-grade master restorer's hands on the box again, and 50 years of experience doesn't come cheap.

 

I get that you don't want to try a DIY restoration on such a fine box but bear in mind that if it doesn't work you don't have to glue it on. In the video I posted these Boulle restorers are only using jewellers equipment so a jeweller wouldn't find this hard either, just $2500 just for a few bits of brass seems very over the top.