Glensheen Mansion (Warning Lots of Pictures)


Chestnut

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Good stuff Drew.  The writing desk in the third picture looks like it could be a fun build.  Looks like one could get pretty far from just that picture.  It looks like there is some fancy adornments but I don't think they would be necessary to make the complete.

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8 hours ago, Chet said:

Good stuff Drew.  The writing desk in the third picture looks like it could be a fun build.  Looks like one could get pretty far from just that picture.  It looks like there is some fancy adornments but I don't think they would be necessary to make the complete.

The 2nd picture was in the same room. You can see at the bottom of the picture the top of the bed post. They were topped with carvings of pineapples and that was supposed to signify something.

The amount of crotch figure in that house would give cremona a heart attack.

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34 minutes ago, pkinneb said:

The drawer fronts on the highboy are amazing!

I still think the fireplace is the most impressive. 8+ feet of that feather crotch figure and then sequenced matched figure behind the vases. just the sheer amount of figured wood blows me away. Every panel through out the entire house that is light brown is curly fumed white oak. It has to all be veneer.

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The fireplace is certainly amazing, as is all the rest of it, but the one above the pool table with the crotch on the wall appears to be a huge piece.  And all simply gorgeous! 

I have some pieces of veneer like that and I keep wondering what I'll build using them, but I've had them 30 years so maybe it's time to figure that out and use them. :o

David

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49 minutes ago, difalkner said:

The fireplace is certainly amazing, as is all the rest of it, but the one above the pool table with the crotch on the wall appears to be a huge piece.  And all simply gorgeous! 

I have some pieces of veneer like that and I keep wondering what I'll build using them, but I've had them 30 years so maybe it's time to figure that out and use them. :o

David

The scale of the fireplace doesn't really do it justice the beams on the sides are like 10-12" across and there wasn't a seam for the full 8 feet.

Yes! Use them! You have some excellent craftsman ship as proven with the guitar you made you should be able to figure something out. Barrister bookcase with panel doors instead of glass.

I also wish they had more lighting in the place. They had all old incandescent lights it'd be nice if they updated to LED retro style and cranked the lumens up. A LOT of the detail you can see in the pictures you can't see in person because it's too dark. I was running at 6400 - 8000 iso for most of the pictures on a f/1.8.

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6 hours ago, Chestnut said:

They were topped with carvings of pineapples and that was supposed to signify something.

Pineapples are a symbol of hospitality.  The implication of putting them on the bed posts is a little less clear.

 

Great stuff.  Thanks for sharing the pictures.

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16 hours ago, Chet said:

Good stuff Drew.  The writing desk in the third picture looks like it could be a fun build.  Looks like one could get pretty far from just that picture.  It looks like there is some fancy adornments but I don't think they would be necessary to make the complete.

That caught my eye as well. I guess because of the writing desk on the cover of this month's FWW.

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9 minutes ago, Brendon_t said:

Not relevant but does anyone remember tagging DUW (dial up warning closed parentheses on Rich texts with a lot of pictures?  I can't believe we used to dial up. It would have taken 47 minutes to open this page.

Great pics of really cool history

I don't think I'll ever forget dial-up. I was a teenager in those days and those images would NEVER load fast enough :D if ya catch my drift.

7 minutes ago, Chet said:

You wouldn't really want to do that, It would ruin the the historic atmosphere of the mansion.

I'm not saying a ton brighter or those awful blue LEDs just a bit brighter and the same 2700k color temperature. The house was built electrified so it's not really much of a change in historic atmosphere.

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3 hours ago, wtnhighlander said:

And possibly cause UV damage. I'm not sure how much or little UV is emitted by modern LED lighting.

LEDs don't emit UV, though I suppose they could be made to do that. That's why museums & galleries love them so much.

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2 minutes ago, drzaius said:

LEDs don't emit UV, though I suppose they could be made to do that. That's why museums & galleries love them so much.

I suppose if they did and it was a concern wouldn't they just put treated glass on them to block the uv light?

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I think this furniture is worth understanding.   The use of figured wood complements the pieces and doesn't distract like so much of what I see in modern examples.   I think it just has to do with the way the wood was selected and how the grain was oriented.   Or maybe it's because of the use of stain?

Really beautiful pieces.

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1 minute ago, Minnesota Steve said:

I think this furniture is worth understanding.   The use of figured wood complements the pieces and doesn't distract like so much of what I see in modern examples.   I think it just has to do with the way the wood was selected and how the grain was oriented.   Or maybe it's because of the use of stain?

Really beautiful pieces.

I'd be willing to be that none of those were stained. If the wood was tinted in color it was probably done with a dyed glaze or a tinted lacquer. Shellac and Lacquer were the popular finishes then. From looking at it most of the wood was Mahogany or Oak, with some cherry here and there. I don't remember seeing much walnut at all. Pictures 2 & 3 might be walnut but i can't remember. The grain pattern didn't seem right. Can't judge color cause most of the stuff is 110 years old and has probably lost a lot of it's color.

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