Vault doors will soon shine again

The vault doors in the Donley County Courthouse are beginning to shine with new life as a Dallas conservator works to remove more than a century of dirt and grime from their surfaces.

Michael van Enter discussed his work on the doors with county officials, project architect Chris Hutson, Texas Historical Commission representative Lyman Labry, and Phoenix I project manager Stephen Dodge during a construction conference last Thursday. 

Van Enter and his crew have been working to remove coal soot residue and dirt to reveal hidden colors in the artwork on the doors. Original paint will be touched up only minimally. They are also bringing out colored bands along the top of the vault doorframes that may have been added in the 1930s based on the type of paint.

“You’re really lucky somebody in the 1930s didn’t decide to put an Art Deco design over these doors,” van Enter said.

The doors were manufactured in Cincinnati, Ohio, by the Mosler & Bahmann Company and carry an order date of January 1883. They were apparently then kept in storage until sold for use in the local courthouse in 1890.

Artwork on the doors was likely done by indentured servants, van Enter said. Three of the doors depict landscape scenes, but a fourth door stands out for its sailboat scene, which van Enter says is in the Impressionist style and was very advanced for the time period.

“They must have had at least one artist that was more in tune with what was happening in Europe at the time,” he said. “A Polish or Czech painter was probably responsible for some of the work. Three of the doors were definitely done by the same hand.”

Trim work on the doors is painted with gold and bronze dust covered by shellac. Decorative elements on the backsides of the doors are made with ground glass covered by shellac, which gives a luminescent quality to the accents.

Van Enter’s team first vacuums the dust from the door, washes them with an alkalizing solution, then a neutralizing solution. A solvent wash is then used, followed by another round of alkalizing and neutralizing.

One door in the office formerly used by the county ag agent was badly stained at some point when someone sprayed an ammonia-based cleanser on it. A cocktail of chemicals, which included some strong alcohols, was used by van Enter to lift the stain and reveal the beautiful artwork hidden beneath.

The conservation work on the vault doors is part of the overall restoration of the 1890 building, which county officials say is coming along at a brisk pace. Scaffolding around the exterior of the building is expected to come down some time next week.

For more project information, go to www.ClarendonOnline.com and click on the courthouse icon.