Stan Hywet Hall & Gardens is located in Akron, Ohio. The “home” is the former American Country Estate of F.A. Seiberling, co-founder of The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company.
Stan Hywet historic estate is restoring the Music Room. I have the honor of restoring all the sconce and chandelier shades in the Music Room.
Stan Hywet Music Room Sconce and Candlelight Lampshades
Three (3) file boxes hold all 102 shades! There are 66 sconce shades that go around the room. Three chandeliers hold 12 shades each for a total of 36 candlelight shades.
My first plan of action is to clean the shades to see what color they actually are! I will only clean using a lint roller and a sweeper. I will use a lint roller first to keep the dust down to a minimum. There is a black soot dust on the shades due to coal heat. This is a clear indication of “historic” authenticity!
As I am dismantling these historic shades, I realized I did not have a visual of what the chandelier and sconce lamp pieces actually looked like.
Upon request, Stan Hywet curators sent pictures of the the lighting fixtures. The following are pictures of the room in its’ entirety and a picture of the lighting fixture.
Stan Hywet 1916 Music Room
Stan Hywet 1916 Chandelier Restore Project for the Music Room
Stan Hywet 1930 Music Room, Historic Estate
Stan Hywet Music Room 1930, Lampshade Restore Project, Historic Estate
Stan Hywet, Historic Estate, Costume Party
Stan Hywet Costume Party, Historic Estate, Sconce Lampshade Restore Project
Stan Hywet Music Room 2016 Lampshade Restore Project, Akron, Ohio
Stan Hywet Music Room 2016 Lampshade Restore Project, Akron, Ohio
Dismantling the fabric from the lampshade wires was a messy job! The lampshade covers were in decent condition, considering the age, but the fabric had a coating of soot, I suspect, from coal heat. The fabric liners were barely there! The twill that was wrapped around the wire was rotted from age.
Estate Sconce Original Lampshade Restore Project, Stan Hywet
Historic Sconce Lampshade Restore Project. Messy Job!
Most of the 66 sconce shades needed weld repairs. The 36 candlelight shade wires were a of “hook” construction, with a spot weld. The wires swayed quite a bit, but were not broke apart. The candlelight wires did not require weld repairs and tightened up after being cleaned and waxed.
Sconce Lampshade Wire Frames, Historic Shades
Antique Chandelier Candlelight Shades
All the wires have been cleaned with steel wool and have two coats of sealant wax to protect them from corrosion or rust. The wires are wrapped with 1/4″ cotton twill. The twill wrapped wires allows you to be able to sew the fabric onto the shade frame.
Chandelier, Sconce Lampshade Wire Frames Restored
Sconce / Candlelight Historic Shades, Stan Hywet Hall & Gardens Estate
The fabric and color has been decided upon with help from a team of professionals in the industry. It is impossible to get an exact match to fabric, color and pleat but we have duplicated as close as humanly possible! The original cover color was an old gold, believe it or not! The only way we could tell the actual color was the fabric under the trim where the fabric was not exposed to light or heat. I gently washed multiple shade covers to get the best possible original color.
The cover fabric is silk broadcloth. The silk broadcloth has the grain identical to the original fabric. The silk broadcloth was also the correct weight and texture for pleating. However, the fabric only came in white or ivory.
Ivory Silk Broadcloth
The many yards of fabric, along with samples of the original covers, was sent to be dyed. The old gold color is a perfect match! The gold fabric will be warm soft lighting.
Silk Broadcloth Dyed Old Gold to Match Original Historic Shades
Now that the silk broadcloth was the correct color, the fabric needed to be pleated. The pleating company miraculously matched the pleating of the original historic covers. Not an easy task as the pleats needed to be very small and a little inconsistent. Keep in mind these tiny shades, at the tallest point on the sconces, is 5 inches.
Pleated Silk Broadcloth
The ivory silk broadcloth is also being used for the liner.
The picture of the pleated fabric is closest to the actual fabric color. Cameras and computers have their own color image!
It has been quite some time but I am going to try and add a gallery!