The end of 2010.

Lots to report at the close of this year. I've recently completed a major project to contribute towards my MA in Historic Object Conservation, a wood, silver and ivory saint figure.

The figure was cleaned, the paint consolidated and all of the accessories restored and reattached.

On the conjuring front I also composed an essay detailing the life of Houdini's Water Torture Cell from its manufacture to the present day. This will be available to download for free from the website in the new year.

I hope you all have a great time this next week, and wish you a successful new year.

Levante's Illusion

Just starting work on one of the most unusual, and certainly one of the rarest objects I've handled. Les Levante was the best known magician to come out of Australia, and toured around the world for more than fifty years. A short bio is available here: http://geniimagazine.com/magicpedia/Les_Levante

This is one of his illusions, billed as a "Spooks Cabinet", the magician would be blindfolded and tied to a chair within the tent. A table with various items, all of which can make noise, was put next to the bound magician and the cabinet closed. The items then ring out and drum from within the tent, despite the magician still being bound securely throughout.

The tent was also used in Levante's signature effect, "The £1000 Steel Trunk Mystery", a version of an earlier illusion, Metamorphosis. In this effect Levante, locked in the steel trunk, would switch places with his assistant while under cover of the tent. This effect, and the tent in its past glory can be seen in this rare film, starting at the 2.33 point: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93WICk-DEOE&feature=player_embedded#!

A small selection of research material related to the object from my personal collection.

The frame constructed, a clever folding design, but sadly prone to deterioration. It's been affected by severe corrosion to all the metal parts and some structural issues to the wooden frame. 

Levante's original rope, blindfold, tambourine and bells. Lucky to still be present with the item, these are real pieces of theatre history.  

A few finished objects.

Here's a quick update to show a couple of objects previously featured which are just about to be sent back.

First up is the box for the Davenports match to rose trick:

Secondly the much earlier tin rarebit pan, now rust free and lightly polished:

Quite an exciting item coming up, a stage illusion built by the Great Levante in the early 20th Century, let's hope it fits in the lab. 

Website and launch.

In other news, preparation is being made for an official launch in early October. Adverts are being booked in a few collectors magazines and a website is currently being put together by a good friend, so watch this space!

New set of objects.

A lovely set of magic apparatus for conservation arrived recently from a private collector who kindly agreed to let me publish the work on here.

There's a superb, complete 1950s Ernest Sewell magic set, really quite a scarce thing, though the box is going to need a lot of attention to get it back to good condition.

Another item where the box is the problem is this L. Davenport and Co Match to Rose. The trick itself is in great condition, but the box lets it down so I'm going to completely rebuild it.

Finally a much earlier item, known as a Welsh Rarebit Pan. It allows the magician to cook a meal in a borrowed hat, involving a lot of mess and finally a fire in the hat! Following this the magician produces a live rabbit from the pan. This item has had a hard life, and has quite a lot of rust, but this will be given a new lease of life ready for display.

The New Lab

The new lab is continuing to grow. A new microscope has arrived and I'm currently using it to conserve two archaeological artefacts. Tomorrow work starts on an amazing 1940s automata clock, quite a challenge, but I'll talk more about that later.

The first.

Welcome to my new blog, I'm Phil, a freelance conservator. At the moment I'm busy building and fitting my new home lab, and that'll be the first project published on here.
Over time I hope to document as many jobs as possible on here in order to keep people up to date with their objects and my work.