by MOAPH | May 11, 2026 | Homepage, Museum Projects
Back to Gallery 1800s Imported Mixed Bird Seed Can A rare paper container from the 1800s for “Imported Mixed Bird Seed” from the Austin, Nicholas & Co. of New York. The reverse side has instructions on “How to care for birds”, plus the ingredients also list...
by MOAPH | Mar 16, 2026 | Museum Projects
Back to Gallery 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 left. We have no idea of the manufacturer, so if...
by MOAPH | Feb 11, 2026 | Museum Projects
Back to Gallery 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 restoring it. You can see the condition upon arrival in the...
by MOAPH | Dec 12, 2025 | Museum Projects
Back to Gallery 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 restorer, Lynn, over 3 weeks to remove and restore. Difficult job,...
by MOAPH | Nov 6, 2025 | Museum Projects
Back to Gallery 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! Before: After: Before:...
by MOAPH | Oct 3, 2025 | Museum Projects
Back to Gallery 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...
by MOAPH | May 9, 2025 | Museum Projects
Back to Gallery 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...
by MOAPH | Feb 1, 2025 | Museum Projects
Back to Gallery 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. You can watch the 5 minute video where we opened this sign here: Watch Video...
by MOAPH | Jan 10, 2025 | Museum Projects
Back to Gallery 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 color we found under the rust....
by MOAPH | Dec 11, 2024 | Museum Projects
Back to Gallery Molassine Sign Restoration and History of the Company Restoration The key to all restoration is “less is more.” In other words, never “over-restore” an advertising sign and lose the antique “feel” or patina of the vintage piece. This Molassine Dog...
by MOAPH | May 10, 2024 | Museum Projects
Back to Gallery 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 dog graphics. Our wonderful artist restorer, Lynn, filled in...
by MOAPH | Nov 3, 2023 | Museum Projects
Back to Gallery 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 stand). In an effort to keep my talented...
by MOAPH | Oct 6, 2023 | Museum Projects
Back to Gallery 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” sets in. In this case, we discovered the most...
by MOAPH | Sep 8, 2023 | Museum Projects
Back to Gallery Melox Dog Food Sign A vintage Melox metal dog food sign from the 1920s, showing the talents of our master paint restorer,...
by MOAPH | Sep 10, 2022 | Museum Projects
Back to Gallery 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 repair. (And sometimes not so easy!) When Rick...
by MOAPH | Aug 4, 2022 | Museum Projects
Back to Gallery 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 perplexed as to what restoration should be...
