McKee-Arreola Historic Lamp Restoration

I restored three historic wrought iron lamps from our building that were hand made on site in the 1940's by a gentleman named Mr Arreola. The building was the corporate headquarters of R.E. McKee Construction which was one of the largest contractors in the United States in business from 1913 until 1985. Their job list is nothing short of impressive as they built all over the world at one time employing 42,000 people. The lamps had been removed when the building was sold and I tracked them down and was able to acquire them back. They were in need of complete restoration as they had been stored in a damp environment. They feature silhouettes of animals, desert plants and mountains against a mica lens. Mr Arreola distressed all of the metal prior to assembly and added small details with hammer and chisel marks. The lamps were disassembled and cleaned for evaluation. Some of the original paint was left intact and some was repainted. New wiring and bulb sockets were installed to replace the old cloth wiring and outdated sockets. The original mica lenses were carefully cleaned and new leather lace was wrapped as they were around the welded joints. The lamps are now hanging back in our lobby and look absolutely beautiful!