08mc01-AL-2014_Santena, Castello Cavour, Empire desk with two bodies and tombeau flap, inv. No II/263

Facilitated description: 

 

The desk is a wooden piece of furniture. The writing has a shelf that you can open to write.
The desk was built during the 1800s. 
The desk is kept at Castello Cavour in Santena. 
The restorers of the La Venaria Reale Conservation and Restoration Centre restored the writing desk in 2014-2016. 
The restorers placed the desk in an anoxic chamber, an oxygen-free chamber used to eliminate wood-eating insects. 
They cleaned the wooden parts of the dust. They cleaned the skin parts with chemicals. 
They glued the parts of wood that were coming off.
They filled the missing wood parts with painted similar wood. 
They covered holes caused by wood-eating insects. 
Eventually they painted the furniture and put a protective substance on the leather parts against the sun's rays and dust.

 

 

 

 

Abstract of the intervention:

 

Restoration

The intervention on the desk is part of the restoration of the furnishings of the bedroom and study of Cavour of the Castello di Santena on the occasion of the refurbishment of the entire residence. 
The restoration of the desk began with a disinfestation in the anoxic chamber for a period of three weeks. The removal of atmospheric deposits with rubbers and vacuum cleaners was followed. The leather parts and the mirror, on the other hand, have been chemically cleaned and the oxidation from the metal parts has been removed. 
The lifts of the veneered parts were consolidated with glue and made to adhere with clamps. The gaps were integrated with the same wooden essence and intoned with watercolor colors.
The cracks were integrated with the same wood essence, while the flicker holes were filled with stucco.
An anti-moth solution was laid on the furniture.
The missing metal portions were supplemented with resin.
Finally, the wooden surface was protected with paint and the leather surface with microcrystalline wax.