The home owner asked for a restoration of a 150+ year old venetian classic once owned by Henry Ford II.

This original chandelier was created in Murano Italy in 1850. Its providence traces ownership through Henry Ford II, ultimately to its current owner residing in Carmel Highlands of California.

The item was nearly entirely destroyed in a cleaning mishap. After a previously unsuccessful attempt to restore the work in Italy, the owner provided detailed images of the original work, and all of the shattered components of the original chandelier and asked MGW to research and recreate the important work.

MGW spent six months painstakingly researching and remaking components for this work.

We:

• Photographed and identified each component of the original chandelier.
• Researched how each shape and tool mark might have been made back in 1850
• Collaborated with Wave Murano (an historic venetian glassblowing studio) and Corning's Museum of Glass' Rackow library to understand each tool mark.
• From there we used modern digital tools (Rhino3d, CNC) to recreate tools to make these marks and through trail and error were able to accurately recreate the 70% of component pieces that were destroyed in the mishap.

MGW is tremendously proud to have played a role in the history of this important work.