Leather Window Screens
The library windows are furnished with embossed and painted shade / screens custom built in 1925. The painted leather window screens feature figures engaged in hunting and seem to have been cut from a 17c. oil painted leather tapestry. These paintings were then inserted into leather clad and stamped screens.The backgrounds were modified and the stamped pattern carried up to the figures. One of the paired screens had suffered water damage and was torn with extensive shrinkage, plane deformation and paint losses. The owner interviewed two conservators some time ago who tendered substantial estimates with no assurances of a successful outcome. The project was then offered to me. I've had previous trials with leather screens and recognize some of the hazards. I decided I could rescue this piece and went ahead with the project.
The painted leather was released from its frame and placed in a humidified chamber until it relaxed sufficiently to be flattened. The borders were re-cut and new leather attached with lining fabric to the back side to correspond with the frame opening. Heat sensitive, double sided adhesive film was a key element. After attaching the resized leather painting to the frame imprinting was done with gouache colors and coated with reversible, U.V. resistant varnish.
This old screen featuring a young falconer once again graces the library of the Rhodes mansion overlooking Lake Union.