Victorian-era Writing Slope W/original Velvet Skiver (1880?)

Won this at auction on Thursday, and spent Friday restoring it:


I lubricated the lock and cut a new key for it.


I brushed down the velvet to remove the dust


Put in a new inkwell (These inkwells are bloody hard to find...)



And I also chiseled out the old notch on the lower leaf, and glued in a replacement piece of wood, to act as a new catch. The brass latch wasn't grabbing the lip properly (130 years of wear will do that), so I beefed it up a bit so that there was something to bite on and hold the lid shut properly

I also put in a couple of strips of strong adhesive tape, to hold the hinge together. I don't trust antique velvet and glue to be strong enough.

Gonna take this to the Melbourne Pen Show at the end of the year and sell it

 

Looks absolutely gorgeous - well done!

 

Thanks Aaron. Breathing new life into old objects - especially old writing boxes, has been a passion of mine for many years now.