everything has a story: ivory escutcheons

When I showed the South guest bedroom I mentioned that there was a story having to do with the antique chest-of-drawers that would convince you (if you weren't already;) of Dan's talent as a craftsman!

When we found this antique English chest-of-drawers in Dallas many years ago it had a big "HOLD" tag on it.  It was also missing one knob, an ivory escutcheon and another knob was badly broken and not usable.  (For those not familiar with the term, an "escutcheon" is a protective or ornamental plate or flange- as around a keyhole.) 

I loved the chest, the price was right and I didn't concern myself at the time at how we (i.e. Dan ;) would remedy the missing knobs and escutcheon.  I was more concerned with the big, ole "HOLD" tag that meant I couldn't buy it!  It was on hold until the next day at 5 p.m.  So, the following day we arrived at the antique shop at 4:45 and waited!  5 o'clock came and went and we asked the staff to call the person to see if they were going to take it.  The person decided against it because the width didn't fit their space and we snapped it up!  

Replacing the missing knobs turned out to be fairly easy.  As is often the case on antique chests, the hardware has been replaced over the hundred plus years of its life to what was the latest "style"- yes, they even had trends back then!  For example, when this chest was initially made it was designed to have brass pulls.  It later became fashionable for chests to have "wooden" knobs, so the brass pulls were removed, the holes plugged/patched and new holes for the wooden knobs were drilled.  It is rather rare to find an antique chest that didn't go through this type of modification over the course of its lifetime.
When we bought the chest there was a wooden knob in the top center drawer.  In this photograph you can even see the indentation from the knob around the ivory escutcheon.  It took a while to figure out that the reason this knob wasn't in line with the other two top drawer knobs (which can also be seen in this photograph) was because originally this drawer didn't have a pull of any kind and was only opened using a key. When we removed the knob in the center top drawer we found the hole that outlined where the original ivory escutcheon had been, but the escutcheon was gone.  They had used that hole to place the wooden knob which is why it didn't line up with the other two drawers.   So, now we needed to replace not one, but two escutcheons.  We removed this knob with the intention of leaving the center drawer accessible only via a key as it had been originally designed, and used the knob as the replacement for the one that was broken.  We then went to our go-to place for miscellaneous antique parts in Dallas: Uncommon Market  and found a replacement for the missing knob.  

In this close-up photograph you can see where the holes for the original brass pulls were patched- probably 100 years ago!  The other telltale sign that the knobs weren't original is how they overlap the ivory escutcheon- it would never have been designed that way.

  Replacing the ivory escutcheons proved to be more difficult. For the next month, or so, we discussed all the possibilities of what we could use to replace the missing escutcheons.  We had several antique ivory billiard balls that we had found in France, but if you've ever priced them they can range, on average, from $95-$195 each, so no one was going to cut up an antique billiard ball!

About this time our next door neighbor who had just retired and was preparing his home to sell called and said he was cleaning out his garage and asked Dan if he would like some boxes of old tools that had belonged to his father.  Well, of course Dan would like some old tools! 

The boxes contained years of accumulated random odds and ends, some wonderful tools AND, 

(now, hold on to your hat ;) 

as luck would have it.....

half of an antique ivory billiard ball!   

I can hear you saying "Get out"!!  No, you get out!!!! :):)

 Our neighbor had no idea why his father would have had an antique billiard ball, but you can imagine our surprise and delight upon finding it!  Something like a needle in a haystack, only better!

Then began the process for Dan to try to figure out how in the world do you get a paper thin escutcheon out of a round ivory ball?!  

Since each escutcheon was initially hand cut, no two of the shield shapes were alike.  Dan started by tracing the shield outline from the holes in the drawers on paper (those are the two paper samples on the left) and then transferring the pattern onto a piece of cut ivory (the two cut ivory samples are on the right).  But, that all makes it sound too easy- this is  not an episode of "This Old House" where everything is perfect the very first time!!  First he had to figure out "how to cut" the ivory...

  Keeping in mind that he only had so much material to work with, (i.e. only a partial billiard ball) there was no room for error.  Dan quickly found out that because the ivory was so brittle the cut couldn't be too thin or it would break the second he started working on it.  Just when he thought he'd have a perfect piece a chip would break off and he would have to start over .  After several failed attempts he realized to prevent breakage he needed to cut the slices thicker than what would fit flush in their respective drawer holes.   He made the initial slices using a coping saw (that's for all you men out there reading;) and then used a Dremel drill with a sanding attachment and a utility knife to gingerly shape the shield design.  Next, he turned a belt sander upside down and held the escutcheon down with his finger to get the shield down to the proper thickness so it would fit flush on the drawer front.  The last step was cutting out the keyhole in the now paper-thin center of the ivory piece.  Using the Dremel drill and making many small drills he eventually made the opening into the shape of a keyhole.

The finished product, though this was one of the culls that didn't quite make the cut!

After gluing the new escutcheons in place they were just a little too white, so I lightly oiled them in Old English (Dark) to age them and they were perfect!  So much so, in fact, that to this day neither Dan, nor I, can tell you which one (other than the top drawer) is the one he made!

(To read other "everything has a story" posts click HERE)

the South guest bedroom

 

click HERE to read the "details" post on this room

the North guest bedroom: details

Thank you so much for your compliments on the guest bedroom!

As I describe each photo I will attempt to answer your questions, but please let me know if I miss anything. 

This North guest bedroom is also known as the "red" room, or "Kristen's" room;)  I adore red in interiors, and, in fact, had a red study in Dallas.  A red room didn't work for the farmhouse, but as I designed this guest room I found that red accents worked well in the space, and my "red' found a home!

Since I always share my sources with you I realized after looking through the photographs that I should start this post off with a disclaimer straightaway...  the only source I can give you is for the curtains. 

This brings up a topic that I've never discussed outright, but one that I should address.  I'm not one of those decorators who changes their interiors regularly.
(What will we talk about after I show you all my rooms???!) 
My goal in designing spaces is that they will be classic and stand the test of time, or trend-  meaning that I do have things that are considered trendy, but usually I've had them before they were mass-produced trends and will have them after they are no longer "In" since I purchased them because they appealed to my personal design aesthetic.  That being said, I tend to keep things for a very long period of time.  I buy things that I really love, and then love and use them for many years. 

I guess in a way this is my apology for only being able to source the curtains!  Everything else has been with me for years/decades. 
Lesson:  have in your home only things that you absolutely love- it's good for your heart, and your pocketbook! 

All paint is  Benjamin Moore. 
The walls are Overcast (OC-43), which is a muted green/gray/putty in Eggshell finish. 
The trim is White Dove in Latex Satin Impervo. 
The ceiling is White Dove in Pearl finish.



The bedroom as seen from the upstairs hallway.
The floors are original to the house; they are random-width Eastern white pine and are face nailed.

The antique rug was found at the Scott Antique Market in Atlanta.  I adore this rug and its vivid red- which is very worn in some places.  The vintage crystal chandelier is one of a pair that I found in a nearby antique shop; the other chandelier is in the second guest room.
The 100% linen curtains are from Ikea.  They are Aina - "unbleached." The thin, black metal curtain rods are also from Ikea.  I didn't like the finials that came on the rods, so I found simple wooden balls and painted them black to match the rods.  I hung the curtains so that they would just barely puddle on the floor.
 The basket on the floor holds magazines and was purchased years ago (I believe it was from Garden Ridge, Brooke ;)  The thin crown molding is original to the whole house.

The sheer cotton gauze bed skirt is from Ballard Designs... some 15 years ago.  The white, scalloped matelasse coverlet was purchased around the same time.   I brought home six or seven different quilts for the end of the bed trying to match the beautiful, but elusive, gray/green/blue in the rug and in the religious painting in the corner of the room. Every time I thought "this one is perfect" I got it home and it clashed.  I finally (after months) found the perfect hue.   It is actually the same quilt that is on the bed in the master bedroom, just a different color/size (unfortunately, it is discontinued from DKNY.)

The large pillow made from an antique kilim rug (it is very similar in style and color to the rug on the floor) was purchased from the same rug dealer at the Scott show.  It sits in front of a pair of shams that match the blue/green/gray quilt.  I made the extra large linen pillow that spans the bed using a gorgeous red velvet antique bell pull.  The intricate handwork on the pull is stunning, and I bought it not really knowing what I was going to use it for, just because I loved it.  Then, one day, it clicked as to how perfect it would work as a pillow in this room!  It was a big hunt to find a pillow that was large enough for the length of the bell bull.  The pillow form is one of those huge "body pillows" from Bed Bath and Beyond- it spans the entire full-sized bed!

Ahhhhh, the bed frame! 
This antique English iron bed frame was my very first antique. My mother bought it for me right after college.  It was from lying in this bed and pondering where the bed had come from/ who had owned it before me/ what the rooms and the houses looked like that it had resided in over the hundred years before I owned it - that my love for antiques began in my early twenties.  The bed frame is what is referred to as a "three-quarters" size, as it is not quite a full.  To be able to use a full size mattress, my father made a wood platform that the mattress sits on, instead of using a box spring.  In Dallas the bed frame wasn't used and was stored in the garage for many years.  I'm so grateful for my late father's meticulous details and directions written on the wood platform, so that Dan and I could figure out how it all went back together.  Even though I wasn't using it in Dallas I could never sell it.  I always envisioned it being perfectly at home in an antique farmhouse, and all these years later, it is!

This photograph makes the bed frame look a bit more blue than it actually is.  It is painted with Rustoleum Texture spray paint in Dark Pewter.  I didn't set out to use the texture paint, but that was the color of gray (there are a lot of grays on the market;) that I liked for the room.  The mat texture actually adds a nice authentic "iron" look and feel to the bed.

The religious oil painting is our earliest, dating to the 1600's.  It is painted on hand-woven canvas known as tabby cloth and is from a  much larger work of religious art.  The painting depicts what appears to be a marriage as there is an exchange of a beautiful ring.  The painting has gorgeous detail... the pearl earrings the woman is wearing are stunning.

The antique pine chair was found (sans the cane seat) at an estate sale in Dallas.  I had the seat re-caned and used to use the chair every day at my vanity in Dallas to put on makeup.  (fyi - dry cane causes breakage...   a simple trick to keep cane from drying out and therefore keeping it strong and pliable, is to occasionally wet a washcloth, lightly wring it out  and place it on the cane overnight.)
Antique wire basket found in France holds a collection of white coral.

This guest bedroom is the smaller of the two guest rooms, so I was very pleased to be able to incorporate the antique French desk that we found at the Paris flea market.  The antique hand-painted egg prints were found at the Scott Antiques Market.  I framed them in a pair of antique gilt frames with the original wavy glass still intact, that I found at an antique shop in McKinney, Texas.  A vintage red leather ottoman sits under the desk with extra throws.

The vintage Louis XV style chair is one of a pair; its mate can be found in the reading room.  I purchased the chairs about 20 years ago, and I hand-applied gold leaf (the real kind, not the paint) to the frames. You can see a hint of the gilt on the chair back.   Twenty year ago I had this fabric upholstered on them using the reverse side of the shiny damask fabric that was so popular at the time.  This side looked like a patterned linen.  I remember the upholster thought I was crazy, and I had never seen it done before, but it felt like the right decision.  It has proven to be a good one, as I have used and loved them for 20 years!   About six years ago I applied a grey wash over the gilt chair frames, and tea stained the fabric (while on the chair;) to soften them a bit.
We purchased the vintage watercolor at estate sale in Dallas many years ago. At the time the painting hung in our hall in Dallas and I didn't want to invest the money to reframe and re-mat the piece, so I spray painted both the frame and the mat!

  

The unsigned oil painting was found in this frame at an antique shop in Austin, Texas years ago.   We almost didn't buy it as it as it was out of our budget.  We left the store and sat in the car discussing if we could/should buy it and then I ran back in to purchase it!   Thank goodness!

The antique iron and marble topped table was found in an antiques shop in Natchitoches, Louisiana.  It was from Rosemont Plantation.

The wood baluster lamp is a favorite that I have had for 20 years.  Don't be surprised when you see another one just like it (different shade) in the South guest bedroom... I have a "thing" for balusters, evident by the number of them I have around the house!  (fyi- I see the term misused often at antique shops, so to clarify- a "baluster" is a single piece while a 'balustrade" is the entire railing made up of individual balusters.)   We purchased about 25 of these at one of the first estate sales we ever went to in Dallas.  It was a fabulous old Highland Park house (for those of you who know Dallas) and we bought every single baluster knowing that they would make great lamps.  They were a very popular seller in my early years as an antiques dealer.   The are solid wood, so Dan had to drill a shaft through the baluster for the wire to go to the base.

Small antique iron urn holds an African violet and shares the table with a silver hotel tray, an antique oil painting of sheep that was recently framed by having an antique frame cut down to fit, a piece of white coral and a black oval framed antique chalkware carving of a boy that we found in France.

So, when shall I be expecting you?!!! ;)

the North guest bedroom

click HERE to read the "details" post on this room