41-AL-2006_Nichelino, Hunting Lodge of Stupinigi, Toeletta, inv. 389

Facilitated description:

 

The dressing table is a wooden box painted red and with a mirror.
The dressing table was built in 1730-1750 and is kept at the Hunting Palace of Stupinigi.
The Centro Conservazione e Restauro La Venaria Reale restored the toilet in 2006-2007 after the furniture was found. The toilet was stolen in 2004.
The restorers have placed the toilet in an anoxic chamber (room without oxygen that serves to eliminate insects that feed on wood).
They carried out a cleaning (cleaned the surface from the dirt deposited over time or from the layers of old restorations).
They cleaned the metal parts with a scalpel (tool with sharp blade).
The restorers have consolidated (made more stable) the wooden structure.
They stuccoed the gaps (they themselves have a white layer of plaster and glue inside the missing parts of the wood). 
They painted the stucco with watercolors.
Eventually they painted the entire surface to protect it from the sun's rays and dust.

 

 

 

 

Abstract of the intervention:

 

The restoration of the Venetian dressing table was completed in 2007 under the supervision of Pinin Brambilla Barcilon. The intervention was carried out on the occasion of the discovery of the nucleus of works stolen from the Hunting Palace of Stupinigi in 2004. After the restoration, the work was relocated to the Palazzina.

 

Restoration

The work was subjected to disinfestation in anoxic chamber for a period of three weeks. The atmospheric deposits were aspirated and removed, in addition to the wax deposits. All metal surfaces were cleaned with the scalpel. The right back foot and the tenon of the support arm were glued with animal glue. The sculpture was reinstated and a support pin was added into the arm tenon. The most obvious gaps were plastered and then replenished with watercolor.  Finally, the entire surface was painted with protective.