17mc45-MC-2013_Nichelino, Stupinigi Hunting Lodge (King's room apartment), Chandelier with eight arms

Facilitated description:

 

The eight-arm chandelier is a work of metal and glass made in the mid-1800s.
The chandelier is kept in the Hunting Palace of Stupinigi, in the antechamber of the King's apartment.
The La Venaria Reale Conservation and Restoration Centre restored the chandelier in 2013.
The restorers dismantled the chandelier to clean all the pieces.
They washed the glass parts and cleaned the metal parts with chemicals.
They dried the parts under a special lamapada.
They repainted the candles.
They rebuilt the electrical system and replaced the damaged hooks.

 

 

 

 

Abstract of the intervention:

 

Restoration

The glass structure and appliques have been dismantled in order to carry out a diversified cleaning for each material.
Cleaning tests on the iron structure showed traces of silvering below the purple layer. However, due to the poor state of preservation of the silver leaf, it was decided not to remove the purple leaf. The differentiated chemical cleaning of the brass arms, candle holders and plates was then carried out. The candle holders and plates were then treated with protective. All screws were mechanically cleaned to remove iron corrosion products and treated with protective. The glass pendants and elements were disassembled and cleaned by immersion in water with surfactant and then rinsed in water and alcohol, while the beads wires were immersed in an acidic solution, thus also cleaning the internal brass wire without having to disassemble it. In this way it was possible to maintain the original curvature of the brass wire. Subsequently the rows of beads were dried under the lamp and the cracks were filled with epoxy resin. The joint between the glass saucers and the bronze candle holders and the electrical system with an alternating ignition system of the bulbs were then restored.

The wooden candles, given the poor adherence to the wooden support of the pre-existing paint, have been stripped and repainted. Before repainting, candles showing signs of attack by xylophagous insects were treated with an anti-moth product.
Finally, all the elements of the chandelier have been reassembled.