I had planned on posting wonderful pictures of a stunning parcel gilt lacca povera console table from the first half of the 18th century this afternoon – but that will not be happening.
Picture this. You hand over to an artisan a table made between 250 and 280 years ago. The only thing you ask that person to do is fill in some missing decoration which has flaked off. When you finally go to pick it up, the formerly water gilt (with real gold, obviously) bevelled edges and central mouldings are covered in schlagmetal (imitation gold leaf) – which was applied with modern adhesive and scrapes off with your fingernail. Under this layer of fake gold leaf is new gold paint, and under the gold paint lies a completely ruined layer of what was once outstanding 18th century gilding. And just like that, poof, a table that was worth thousands is worthless. And for the privilege of having my property ruined I paid just 240€. Hurrah!
I’ve tried to move very quickly through the five stages of grief. Denial: When I first saw it I thought it must be the light. Anger: I stormed off. Bargaining: Maybe this disaster can be fixed. Depression: How stupid was I? And finally acceptance. I spent 40 minutes on the way back home thinking how in the grand scheme of things, we’re very fortunate. So I’m going to take the loss on the chin and move on.I made a mistake by trusting someone knew what they were doing, and sometimes mistakes can be very expensive. As Mr. Trump would say #sad.
To end on a high note here’s a Venetian console which hasn’t been ruined, and is available from a Connecticut dealer.
Damn, bro, that sucks. If that had happened to me, there’d have been some serious anger flying out of me at the culprit who ruined it.
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I promise I had to *really* control myself not to blow a gasket.
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From what I can tell, such things happen more often than not. Historic pieces have to be cared for with very explicit instructions … otherwise … shock!
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You’re right. Every dealer I know has at least one restoration horror story they tell at dinner parties. It was only a matter of time until I got mine
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What a mess. I would have made sure that the person knew how angry I was at the harm done to a valuable antique. I would also make sure that others know of the results from your simple request. Hugs
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The biggest shame is it was a total waste. It’s essentially vandalism to take on that sort of work if the person doesn’t know what they’re doing.
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I’m sorry that happened but think it’s super awesome that you recognize your progression through the change curve 😉 Perhaps in acceptance you will find a positive action to take with the offender, and may even be surprised with the response. If not, sharing it here is good for you too. Hugs (or awkward high fives to respect your personal space).
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Mike is pleased. He says that a few years this would have sent me spiralling out of control. Thus far, I’m okay 🙂
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You’ve handled it brilliantly, better than a great deal of people would. Putting things in perspective isn’t easy, well done dear. *hugs him*.
A much smaller scale version of your debacle occurred to me when a friend broke a huge Victorian glass witch ball that I’d kept in perfect condition for years and I was sorely attached to. I went through those very stages, it’s the only way not to end up making yourself even more miserable I reckon. ❤
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I’ll admit that deep inside I felt like crying. Then when Mike got in the car he gave me an annoying speech about how it was a privilege just to be able to know the difference between beautiful and mediocre. And how unfair it would be to blame the people who don’t know the difference for not knowing.
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He’s the real treasure.
– Esme knowing he knows it
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Precisely. Almost worth the price of a Venetian console table!
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Almost. Let’s not go mad now.
– Esme falling about and then off the Cloud laughing
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You have my condolences. It’s a shame that you had to pay for the ruination of a piece of history. Is there any way you could remove the vandalized bits and get someone else to fix it?
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I’m investigating. I’ve sent pictures to a few people and I’m hoping it can at least be sold as a decorative piece, but its value as an antique is seriously dented.
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That is a horrible story.
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It could be worse. If I were Catholic I’d be thinking god is punishing me for something 😀
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Yes. What kind of sin caused this? Maybe now you could just spray it with rhino liner and use it for shop furniture
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I’m not sure, but as I go through the 7 cardinal sins every day, all options are open 😀
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I think I’m at 6 already today. Are there more? Lol
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Yes,they’re SEVEN. Pride, greed, lust, envy, gluttony, wrath and sloth 😀 😀
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I’m a little new at this still. If I do lust twice, does that count as one, or two?
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You had a great chance to practice self-control and reflect on your feelings and emotions. Besides, you now have your own horror story to tell at dinner parties. (I know… My wife would probably kill me for this kind of “empathy”.)
What else can I say here?.. Oh, yes.. “It’s only a table!” 🙂
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Flippancy is actually very welcomed – and good for me. It is only a table and disasters are rare enough that when one happens it’s a major event.
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My dad likes to say, “May this be the biggest disaster in your life.”
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You see, this is why not having access to guns is a good thing.
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Ooooh this wouldn’t have been a gun crime. It would have been a much slower and more painful death by beating with a metal pipe.
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Use a spoon. It’ll take longer and hurt more.
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Wood shavings, much slower, much better.
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I favour vinegar and pins myself.
– Esme Cloud suggesting folks keep on her good side.
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In the eye? 😀
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Both.
– Esme and her deadly pins upon the Cloud
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I’d favour a nasty poison (derived from a garden plant) – not to kill him, just give him a very poorly tummy.
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Oh that sounds awful! Sure, you’re very lucky, but you do have every reason to be really angry at someone ruining something so nice. I hope you spoke to the owner and you tell everyone not to go there!
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Oh, I’m angry. Especially angry that the person looked into my eyes and actually DENIED having touched the gilding! As if I were some sort of cretin who wouldn’t notice the difference between how it was before and how it is now.
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I’ve just finished watching Forest Gump … again. ”Or as my daughter said: ”A re-run Forest, a re-run.”
And as Forest said: ”(Sh) it happens.”
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I am so sorry for your loss.
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I join you in the sentiment!
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Cannot press Like for dead table. ☹️
Am hugely impressed that evolved Pink made it to stage Acceptance though! Old Pink would’ve started at Denial, slid quickly into Anger, then burnt the world down.
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This is exactly what I would have done!
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😀 Well, as I came down the stairs today and saw the table in the hall I had to take another deep, deep breath (ok, more than one) – but I’m managing 🙂
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Even more impressed! I would definitely have to keep it out of sight. What are you going to do with it now? Does the greenhouse need an extravagant potting table? 😜
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I’m putting it out of my mind for a few days. Then next week I’ll send pictures to restorers I’ve worked with before to see what they think.
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Good idea. Even if there isn’t much hope one of them might see it as an exciting challenge. 🙂
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Pink, I would have exploded. You even paid for it? Wow, your cool is beyond me. Sorry mate.
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I thought that if I didn’t pay for it, the person would have felt absolved from the mess they made. I wanted to drive home the point that this was wrong from every angle.
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It would have been much better for them to admit we don’t deal with this. That way, I would give them business. But to mess your stuff and act like you lost your eyesight is offensive
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Incredibly offensive. I was shocked at the gall of just pretending they hadn’t done anything to the gilding.
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I’d have counted to a lot more than ten in order to contain my dismay then probably started laying about me with my crutches. You must have been devastated and with good reason.I’m sorry, such a nice piece of furniture too.
Hugs
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I just got into the car and slammed the door…
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Was this some sort of English-French communications gap? Or was the fellow just thick?
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Not even that. I’m always super careful. Even in the phrasing of what I ask for. My initial suggestion was that the person do the outline of the missing decorations in red and I’d handle the rest myself. At that point the person insisted they knew how to gild and could do the entire job. But at no point did this involve destroying the pre-existing gilding. There was just no reason to even touch the bevelled edges. This was a case of someone getting in way over their head and pretending they had knowledge and skills that they simply did not have.
Did you hear of the Ecce Homo (now known as the Monkey Christ) restoration in Spain a few years ago?It reminded me of that. The restored version is the one on the right.
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Crimes against humanity!
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😀
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btw, the person in question was English
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Well, I only ask as it’s happened to me more times than I can count that I assume people understand me and trust they know what they’re doing. Let’s see: the dermatologist who left a scar on my face when removing an innocuous sun spot, the painter who swore up and down he’d be careful then slopped white paint all over the glass on the balcony…I always end up wondering if somehow my ‘foreignness’ is to blame!
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Shit. That’s awful, a real nightmare. How did this person manage to pass himself off as qualified to destroy your goodies?
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They insisted they knew what they were doing and I (stupidly) presumed no reasonable person would pretend to have knowledge or skills they didn’t have. Now I’m going to walk around thinking anyone could be a sort of Jodie Whittacker in Trust Me…
Is that really a waiter or is it some random person bringing me a fake bill 🤔
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Your restraint is remarkable, & the next time I’m about to explode over something I’ll think of your table disaster, & with luck I too can calm down. You deserve a medal, or at least a huge bottle of wine. xx
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I’ve had the bottle of wine! Starting on the second. I was furious again today, so it was a lot of work to calm myself down. The problem was I went to inspect the table and discovered it was much worse than I initially imagined… It looks like there’s just nothing of the original painting left to be salvaged.
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Ya know, that’s really tough.
“Mike is pleased. He says that a few years this would have sent me spiralling out of control. Thus far, I’m okay ”
So if we have to look fr a nugget of anything positive that is it. I think you need to put this out of sight. Just don’t have it anywhere in your field of vision. Tuck it somewhere you rarely go, come back to it in a years time.
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OK, I’m surprised I’ve scanned through all these comments and not seen anyone talk of suing. Doesn’t this guy have insurance?
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Insurance doesn’t cover your poor work performance.
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OMG I’ve just looked up the fibreglass ladder, the size I’d need for the wisteria is $500 (458€)!!!!
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It should cover negligence though.
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I don’t want to escalate the situation and I’m pretty sure no insurance would cover this.
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I’ve been away in a private Schloss in the Alpes-Bavarie foothills so please excuse my lateness on parade. Actually, when we arrived back in Grenoble our bag had been stolen from the hold of the Navette. Apparemment this has been going on for over a year, the police think drivers are involved. We have lost around $5,000 of stuff including our two MacBook pros. I only reference this as a reminder that this is a thing not a person. It is horrible (one of the things stolen from us was a pair of vintage Kurt Geiger boots that I have owned for 10 years and which carry so many memories I can’t even start to recant them) but we can’t fix the past no matter what insurance or recriminations we take. You are a discerning and cultured, highly educated at a guess and clearly intellectual person (this is why I follow you) …. this is a tragedy and I can’t imagine your pain but I urge you not to wrinkle your pretty face because you have given into sucking bitter lemons 🍋 🍋.
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