124mc13-AL-2017_Turin, Royal Palace, G. Capello, Magnificent table, inv. 9310

Facilitated description: 

 

The Magnificent Table is a round table with an inlay decoration, that is, made with different types of wood and ivory.
At the center of the table is a woman, the Earth, on a chariot pulled by lions.
Gabriele Capello created the table in 1842. The table is kept at the Royal Palace of Turin.
The La Venaria Reale Conservation and Restoration Centre restored the table in 2017.
The restorers placed the table in an anoxic chamber, an oxygen-free chamber that serves to eliminate wood-eating insects.
They cleaned the table of dust and yellowed paint.
They filled the holes caused by the insects that feed on wood with stucco (plaster and glue).
They fixed one of the feet and glued the wooden parts that had come off. They covered the missing wooden parts with wooden tiles. They colored the wooden tiles on the back to make recognizable the parts added with the restoration.
They covered the small holes with putty (plaster and glue layer).
They painted the table to protect it from the sun's rays and dust.

 

 

 

 

Abstract of the intervention:
 

Restoration carried out on the occasion of the exhibition on display Genius and mestria. Furniture and cabinetmakers at the Savoy court between the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries (Reggia di Venaria, Sala delle Arti 17 March - 15 July 2018). 

Restoration

The surgery began with treatment in an anoxic chamber for a period of three weeks to eliminate any symptomatic attacks. We then proceeded to the cleaning differentiated according to the elements: chemical removal for atmospheric deposits, scalpel mechanics for larger deposits and with micro-aspirator and soft bristle brushes on fabric parts. The oxidized paint on the ivory parts was removed with alcohol and mechanical action and the flicker holes were filled with waxy putty added with natural pigments. The additions and glue residues relating to the previous interventions have therefore been removed. The detachment of the foot was consolidated by making it adhere again to the support with glue and the insertion of two screws. The raised inlay tiles were made to adhere again to the support by means of punctual injections of glue. The missing wooden tiles with the same wooden species, the ivory tiles with the same material and the missing ivory fillets with galalite were then integrated. These parts were then chromatically tuned with watercolour colours and a substance was applied on the back that makes them radiopaque and easily identifiable by X-ray analysis. The missing brass threads were supplemented with cooked brass threads, adhered to the support with glue. The small gaps present on the ivory inlay and on the wooden surface were filled with stucco composed of microcrystalline wax mixed with pigments. Below the floor in the headquarters the screws were removed and a wooden dowel was inserted, to which the newly made metal pin is anchored. Finally, a final protective varnish was applied. 

 

Bibliography

C. Accornero, Sheet 85, in Genius and mestria. Furniture and cabinetmakers at the Savoy court between the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries (catalogue), edited by S. De Blasi, Turin, Allemandi, 2018, pp. 311-312.