Elgin/Triang Fireplace

Eric Elgin made and sold quality wooden furniture [1919] with ELGIN/ENFIELD stamped into the base.  Enfield being the town it was made.  I have found it difficult to find out anything about Eric Elgin, but will continue my search.

Lines Bros produce a wide selection of dolls houses, but did not make furniture to furnish them.  Eric Elgin supplied furniture to Lines Brothers without his makers stamp from approx. 1921/1922 onwards.  He continued to make furniture for Lines until 1926, after that time they took over production themselves.

Dating is difficult, because of use of Elgin name stamp. Unmarked pieces would be from the Triang era, but it is difficult to say whether they are from the Elgin for Tri-and proper period [1922-1926] or whether they are Triang manufactured from Elgin designs.

This  Fireplace was probably made by Elgin for Triang, it does not have a manufacturers mark on it.

When I bought this fireplace the shelf above the fire had been repaired and put back upside down.

Some of the round moldings are missing, these were not repaired  or replaced as it looked alright as it was.  Quite a lot of repairs seem to have been done previously, as you can see daylight along the middle panel and top shelf.

First I had to carefully remove the cardboard with the printed tiles and metal fire grate on, it was not as difficult as I thought it would be to remove.

The upside down shelf came away quite easily.  The glue had become quite brittle and had no stick left in it.  It was then I thought I might as well take the whole fireplace apart, gently prizing each part with a knife.

Each piece of wood was cleaned, polished and stuck back into the correct position.  To polish the wood I used a furniture scratch cover for dark furniture.  This covers any imperfections in the wood with a dye and a thin layer of wax.  If you look at the fireplace there was a water stain on the top panel, using the scratch cover it has now gone.  I find this is a gentle, easy way of revitalizing dark wood.

I have stuck brown gummed tape around the top of the fireplace where the light shone through, and replaced the card.

This is a lovely fireplace, bought back to its former glory.