Project Info
Project Description
Weehawken High School, established in 1940, is a four-year comprehensive public high school that serves students in seventh through twelfth grade in Weehawken, New Jersey. Weehawken students in grades 3-6 attend Theodore Roosevelt School.
Both buildings feature two-light wall sconces with hand-painted mica shades bearing Theodore Roosevelt’s initials. The sconces had greatly deteriorated after nearly 70 years of use and were sent to Grand Light for a complete restoration.
The sconces arrived at Grand Light in very poor condition. The finish of the frame had dulled with time and the candle covers had deteriorated. The sconces featured hand-painted curved mica shades which were also in poor condition.
To restore the fixtures, the arms were removed from the back-plate and the original finish was removed from each piece. Once primed, a base coat was applied to create a gold shine to the fixture. Then, several coats of a dark brown paint were hand rubbed to create an antique bronze finish.
The hand-painted mica shades had dulled and needed to be repainted. Two mica shades from the sconces and their accompanying frames were missing and needed to be fabricated. To restore the originals, the paint on the mica shades was removed by utilizing plastic bead blasting at a very low pressure, and then given two coats of incralac before the the original designs are reapplied by a skilled painter. Once painted, the shades were attached to the frames with 1/8″ calf leather straps.
