Today's show & tell item is a handsome Sheaffer vintage desk set that Stuart acquired last summer...
(all photos courtesy of Stuart ~ please click on images to enlarge)
Stuart: "The brass desk-set is here, and it’s quite something! You can see the finish is oxidized and spotted, but
even so this is an impressive piece. It’s made by a famous firm called
Smith Metal Arts - Silver Crest, of Buffalo, NY. The company still
exists as part of McDonald Products, who make desk-pads and such.
Silver Crest things are collected, and they made other desk-set bases
for Sheaffer. This one is bronze with the brass finish over the base
metal - Silver Crest Decorated Bronze was the trade name the firm used."
"The restored vac-fill Triumph Lifetime pen writes a nice smooth Fine line, as you can see. Very typical of those nibs, stiff as a nail but nice-writing."
Stuart: "The set took 13 days to get here from Connecticut - there was delay due
to the seller being called away from home by an emergency. So once the
parcel got going, it made good time. I used some Brasso on the base, but
we didn’t have much left. It looks brighter than it did, but I think
the oxidation combined with wearing-away of the clear lacquer coat can
only be polished up - full re-plating would probably be necessary to
restore the original look. I like the patina, it gives it almost an
industrial-aged look. I think the rectangular opening in front was
meant for a page-a-month calendar. I’ll try hunting around and see if I
can find something that will fit in the opening."
I asked Stuart if the desk base's opening might have had a desk clock or perhaps a barometer in it. He replied: "It isn’t clear in the photos of the brass base, but the open space is a window with a narrow metal pocket or sleeve behind it, so it wouldn’t hold something as deep as a clock. It would have looked fabulous with a clock or barometer fitted in it!"
Many thanks to Stuart for sharing another nice piece from his vintage desk set collection with us.
VPC members---please keep those photos of your new acquisitions coming!
Thanks in advance,
~Maja
2 comments:
I wonder if the window originally had a series of cards as a perpetual desk calendar...
@QE--That makes a lot of sense :)
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