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Discover Mid-America — May 2007
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More to tell
by Bruce Rodgers, Editor/Publisher
Sometimes a journalist comes across stories that beg for more research and more space in which to write them. That’s how I felt after interviewing the three conservators for this month’s story.
I spent about two hours each with Peggy Van Witt, Rick Parker and Bob Hamon. We talked, I toured their workshops and I learned. Each accepted my sometimes redundant and off-the-mark questioning without complaint, and none seemed put-out spending time with someone who knew little of what they do.
For someone whose woodworking skills don’t go much beyond striking a wooden match against a matchbox and “paints” by slapping a 4-inch brush against a wall, I naturally was fascinated by their work and dedication.
As I said, I was unable to include everything I learned about Van Witt, Parker and Hamon in the cover feature but let me tease you with some additional tidbits from lives spent living.
Van Witt’s grandfather’s sister (I guess that would make her Van Witt’s great aunt?) was married to Erich Wolfgang Korngold, “a big Hollywood composer,” Van Witt says, who scored one of Errol Flynn’s swashbuckling movie epics. Also, Van Witt’s grandmother fished a painting out of the trash from behind the Frankfurt Museum (see page 16) that was done by one of Rembrandt’s students. Van Witt still has the painting and keeps reminding herself that one day she must begin to tackle its restoration.
Parker can’t contain his glee in telling about his work on a 3,500-year-old Egyptian coffin that once held the remains of Pasehes, a mid-level priest. Unbelievably, the coffin’s nose was damaged in storage when a burglar stood on it while reaching up to steal air conditioner parts. At one point when working on the coffin, Parker hit an air pocket and “for about 20 seconds was flooded with this incredibly aromatic fragrance.” He was never able to identify the centuries-old smell.
“Can’t find a clue,” says Parker. “I knew within a square inch where it was but we couldn’t get a trace of it. It was just gone, wetted and poof.”
As for Hamon, at one time he was a co-owner of an “adult” frame shop called Desire in the most appropriate of cities — New Orleans.
I’m sure there are other engrossing stories and individuals out there doing conservation and restorative work on a myriad of antiques. The list of professional associates and fellows at the American Institute for Conservation of Historic & Artistic Works (AIC) again will be a good place to start. But if you know of any likely candidates with a good story to tell, let me know because we’re going to make “conservators” an annual cover feature.
Bruce Rodgers can be contacted at publisher@discoverypub.com.
> Editor’s Notebook Archive — past columns
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