I have my grandmothers dining room set from 1927 which has the berkey & gay medallion on the underside of the table. Unfortunatley she felt the set needed to be modernized in the 60’s. She had the hand carved backs of the chairs removed (and discarded) and the set stripped (and sanded) and painted white. I know the value of the set has been destroyed but I would like to restore the set to as close to origional as possible. Does anyone know a good resource on this make of furniture? I don’t have any pictures of the set before the carnage took place. I even had relatives check the old photo albums with no luck. I also would like to know what type of finish process was used. any help would be greatley appreciated.
Thanks Bob
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Schiffer Books publishes a volume on Berkey & Gay. 300 resource photographs for $30. You can't go wrong...
http://www.schifferbooks.com/newschiffer/book_template.php?isbn=0764306561
Brickybob,
Be sure you know why you want to restore this set of Berkey and Gay furniture. My guess is that if you restored it to "pristine" condition, at great expense and time, it would never be worth a fraction of what it would have been worth if it had been left in its original state. I am not sure you will be able to get back much on your investment in time and wood.
Best of luck. What you do with your time is not my business. I am just saying that you should look into why you are doing it before you do it.
You can go to EBAY and type in Berkey and Gay. Sometimes you see some of it at auction.
Enjoy.
Mel
Measure your output in smiles per board foot.
I know the real (dollar) value is gone from the set. It's more a sentimental project than anything.
Thanks Bob
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