Antique Restorer
As a Museologist and a Collector, I have often restored—that is, repaired or improved the condition of—an antique artifact. Shown here is a mid-nineteenth-century traveling inkwell from Canada (which traces back to poet Al Purdy's homeplace—a gift to me from writer George Fetherling). I restored it as a gift for my first wife, Ruth Everett: I replaced the rotten, tattered leather and the cork insert in the lid; cleaned the metal; and straightened the bent latch so that the lid flips open readily at the push of the button. (Ruth—now Ruth Whitehead—regifted the object to me years later for my collection.) (See also Photo Oil-Colorist.)
