As we were setting the dining room table, bright afternoon sunlight highlighted this piece, it’s beauty and it’s flaws, and it asked me to tell it’s story. I inherited this server from my Great Aunt, Fern. No one else had “room”, and I liked the style and the history behind the piece.
It almost matches my Queen Anne dining set, the hutch and buffet across the room are wonderful, nicely finished cherry wood, with shiny brass drawer pulls and knobs.
One of the drawer pulls recently broke, and I knew this was going to be a challenge, as through the years, all but the two original pulls in the top two drawers had been replaced, and none matched. My first thoughts were to “improve it” and buy all new pulls to match my existing set. And, in decorating parlance, “carry the style across the room.”
I did indeed follow through with this plan, and bought eight new pulls; ones that were shiny and strong, and matched everything. As I started to install them, at the first turn of the screwdriver, one of the original pulls let out an audible groan. I stopped to get some penetrating oil, and before I applied it, I took another look at the piece.
Things that exist have a history, and history has a story to tell.
Waiting to be put on the newly dressed table, the brass candlesticks on top of the tea chest , (to the left of the frame and extending out of the top) belonged to my wife’s great grandmother. They were handmade in the “old country” (Prussia, now Latvia) and handed down through the family. They were made to match, but as handmade items, have subtle imperfections and quirks that emphasize their one-of-a-kind individuality that make them prized possessions.
As does Fern’s server. Should I be the one to destroy the trend with the mismatched pulls? Should I be the one to change the story already in progress? Or should I be the preserver of the history, the custodian of the real life of this humble, but significant piece of furniture?
The decision was easy. I replaced just the broken pull and it’s drawer partner, the shiny brass ones on the upper middle drawer.
The story lives on. Fern would approve