Stages in the restoration of the ‘Mystery Bench’

The large image below shows the original state of the better of two bench ends obtained by Lost Art. The top image shows detail of the bench end once cleaned. The middle shows the cleaned end with the addition of a carved replacement for the missing foot and the bottom picture shows a finished resin mould, ready to produce a pattern for the first casting of the new bench ends.

Research by Lost Art revealed the origins of the Mystery Bench.

The original drawing for this design was registered at the Public Records Office on 26th of January 1885 by the Carron Company, based near in .

Sometimes referred to as ‘The of the North’, this was a This included the famous huge company producing a diverse , a short naval , range of iron goods. so effective in close quarter sea battles that it was nicknamed ‘the Unlike Coalbrookdale, seating did not Smasher’. feature highly in their product range, with many of their products being for military purposes.

The images show the first casting taken from the pattern produced from the resin mould shown on the previous page.

The skill of the pattern maker is demonstrated by the high definition of the casting produced and of course the fact that you ‘cannot see the join’ where the replacement foot has been added.

The Carron ‘Mystery’ bench is exclusive to Lost Art and is now available to order.

We have also produced a pattern for a central support which means that bench can be produced in a variety of lengths from a single seat to an 8 foot length and beyond according to your requirements.

1 Yewdale Crescent T: 01257 464601 Wigan F: 01257 464601 Lancashire [email protected] WN1 2HP www.lost-art.co.uk