Museum Restoration Projects
1930s Seahorse Aquarium
A beautiful small 4-gallon seahorse aquarium made of aluminum in the Art Deco style. Most likely made in the 1930s. MOAPH received this aquarium in pieces and with little finish ...
1890s Osborn Aviary
A rare 1890s Osborn birdcage in the large-aviary style. This cage was in bad shape when we acquired it, and Rick and Lynn (MOAPH’s conservators) spent close to 10 hours ...
1910 Fishing Boy Fishbowl Stand
1910 Fishing Boy was kept outside and given to a friend of mine, who gave it to MOAPH. It had an outdoor sand-type spray coating on it, which took our ...
Colorized Victorian Illustrations
Both of these Victorian-era etchings were originally black-and-white only. MOAPH's talented artist, Lynn Hessler, has increased the dramatic impact with the addition of color! ...
Wampa World’s Finest Tropical Fish Food from Otto Eggeling
Rare fish food tin from Otto Eggeling, who was co-author with Frederick Ehrenberg on the book "The Freshwater Aquarium and Its Inhabitants." Published in 1912 and one of the earliest ...
Victoria Hexagon Dog Biscuit Sign
Rare Victoria "Hexagon" Dog Biscuits display sign from the late 1800s. Amazing restoration by our talented paper and paint conservator, Lynn. This is the only example we have found ...
Melox Marvels Sign
Advertising sign for Melox Marvels. This sign came to us with rust spotting and it was challenging to restore it without taking away from its character ...
1890s Cast Iron Victorian Aquarium
Victorian Era aquarium that came to us badly rusted. See the before pictures below and how you almost can't recognize the aquarium once restored. The silver color was the original ...
Molassine Sign Restoration and History of the Company
Molassine was created in 1900 by Arthur Stein as a secret formula for animal feed. The first registration of The Molassine Company was in 1908, and the first commercial formula ...
Lynch’s Dog Mixture Sign
A rare dog medicine sign from England made around 1930-40s. This sign was badly rusted, as you can see in the first image, with holes going through much of the ...
Rick Gordon Birdcage Stand and Fishbowl Stand
In a 1927 issue of Better Homes & Gardens, I found a one-page instruction on how to make your own birdcage stand and “aquarium base”, (I.E; art deco era fishbowl ...
The Most Beautiful Bird Cage in the World!
The internet can be a dangerous black hole of eye candy, and when it relates to antique pet items, the frustration of “I will never find one in my lifetime” ...
1960s Italian Ship Bird Cage
Recently the MOAPH museum acquired this beautiful “ship” bird cage made in the 1960s in Italy. The problem was it was badly damaged and bird cages are very time-consuming to ...
Mott Fountain Aquarium 1875
To restore or not to restore, that is the question! When the museum recently received this beautiful fountain aquarium manufactured by the J. L. Mott Company around 1875 we were ...