My Double Casket and its finished drawer interiors..............ideas for the drawer fronts...

The past month I achieved some short and long time goals. I finally sent a load of furniture to Ohio to be auctioned. Almost filled an entire truck, very releasing. Most of the pieces I purchased three decades ago, my taste has changed from what it was in my twenties! I am currently focused on keeping only reproduction and antique pieces from J.A.'s time period, English and 'Williamsburg'/Early American, which should keep me happy well into the future. I am only a few short months away from the end of sorting through stacks of things I no longer want or need. I have reached the realization that realistically I will not live long enough to finish all the crafts and junk in my stockpile. I will simply focus my efforts to finish my caskets, some reproduction samplers and historically accurate pieces and call it a lifetime well spent!

I had to move my double casket and finishing supplies twice, due to the loss of staging tables, but it forced me to finish the drawers which completely covered the drying space of one table before it was sent away. Below are pictures of the finished interior drawers and secret compartments, followed by the inset trays and removable storage of my double casket. What fun deciding what areas would be finished in marbled paper, silk fabric or silk velvet.

The drawers with details of the embossed edging and a front view of the casket with drawers inserted.

     

The finished 'secret' compartments in the two upper portions of the casket and a removable tray. At this point I admit I am in awe of the quality workmanship of the cabinetmakers.

             

The secret compartments in their 'cubbies' and a view of the removable 'tray' in place.

           

 

Below are a few extra views of pieces as I finished them.

The marbled paper I used was purchased from John Bielik at a summer JASNA event in Louisville. The blue and green hues of the paper compliment the blue-green of the silk, the same is true of the ocher with the gold embossing. Over 26 feet of embossed edging strips were required. I found preparing the silk fabric by mounting it to archival paper similar to wallpapering. It occurred to me that this process must be the same in historical homes that boast silk wallpaper in Dining and Boudoir intimate spaces. Which brings me to another favorite past-time, wallpapering! Note the 'Williamsburg' wallpaper used as a background for this blog? I love projects like this, calculating the amount of surface area to cover, applying the adhesive (which as anyone knows....... timing is everything) and matching the pattern so seams are invisible. Finally, smoothing the paper to remove air bubbles and excess adhesive, very focused and relaxing work. Its wonderfully satisfying to see the elegance of a finished room and how much well placed color can change a persons mood.

The casket exterior looks quite different now the wood surface has been sealed and covered in archival paper, the silk embroidery will be mounted to this surface. Gimp edging has been ordered and will probably arrive after the drawer fronts are complete. I am planning to use a historically accurate technique of wrapping silk fibers over card-stock for the drawer fronts. Each drawer will represent one of six major books of J.A's. to be filled with memorabilia from the book.  I will be working on more details in the next few weeks and culling my collection of antique needlework tools to equip my casket. I am relieved to have completed this part of the project. The casket is useful and it will help in the motivation aspects of finishing the embroidery!

I probably should end this post with a picture of Dr. Tricia Wilson Nguyen, Richard Oedel and his crew at Fort Point Cabinetmakers in Boston, MA. This was taken during our East Coast Casket Tour last October and it really added to the whole significance of the experience of taking on a project like this. The concept that a threshold of interested people in the 'fine hand embroidery world' was met, to actually get to the point of manufacturing hundreds of these pieces, is in itself historical. I am so happy to be part of it!