Last month I bought a beautiful, though in dire need of repair, antique easel. I’ve since been restoring it. It’s a good, sturdy old easel, and it has some unique features integrated into its design… I figured it would be worth sharing.
The new studio easel
The easel’s made of oak…I could see clearly that it was old, as it had crumbling original varnish all over the parts that hadn’t been handled for some time. Much of the wood had splintered. The casters and crank mechanism were still in good condition, though needed some oil.
Upon further inspection, I found the company’s tag that produced the easel. F. Weber (now Martin/F. Weber Co.)still makes artist materials, though nothing like this old easel. They make mostly aluminum, tabletop easels from what I’ve seen today. I hadn’t ever heard of the company other than their partnership with Bob Ross to sell art materials. *edit 4/24/12 it appears F.Weber’s sister company, Martin Universal Design now does their easel production. You can check out the site at www.martinuniversaldesign.com for a list of their easels.
After looking a bit at their site, I understood that this easel must be from before 1919, as the company’s name changed after the death of Mr. Weber. Not a big surprise, as it takes about that long for a varnish to become as brittle and flaky as it was on the easel.
Here's a shot of the old cast iron clamps
Today, most of the easels in the states are made with plastic fittings that strip and ruin with time and use. I was very happy to see that most of the original cast iron pieces of the easel were still intact.
Interestingly, this easel’s crank system is unlike any I’ve seen before. Most ‘crank’ easels use threaded rod to lower and raise the shelf of the easel. This easel has instead a row of pegs.
Here you can see the row of pegs and the crank
The pegs are mounted and descended by a spiral-shaped piece of cast iron.
Another view of the crank system
In the picture above you can get a sense of how the easel raises and lowers. The cast-iron crank gives a great deal of stability for working, and less tedious raising and lowering paintings than other, threaded rod crank style easels…not surprising, I suppose.
When you use an old easel, you can’t help but to be a bit curious as to who used the easel before you.
I’m also curious if anyone’s come across this particular crank system before.
*Edit 4/24/12
I’ve gotten in touch with the good folks at Martin/F. Weber. They had a look through their old catalogues, and have told me that my easel is the Rembrandt Winding Studio Easel (either model number 17 or 18, I have elements of both, it seems). This design easel was produced from 1903 to 1919, so mine’s from somewhere in that arc of time.
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Hi,
I Wonder if I can talk with you by phone a little to pick your brain. A friend of mine was given an easel on which the winding raising and lowering mechanism had broken off (the fastening screws had pulled out), and the shelf had broken off with it. It looks like to get the winding mechanism’s screws to meet the original holes, would require some kind of shim between the shelf and the sliding part that goes up and down. So I’m reluctant to glue and nail the shelf on, for fear of not having the space needed to get the mechanism to line up correctly.
I’ll send you pictures if you’d like, but maybe you can tell me if my question is a real one or one I’ve made up in my head, and will go away if I just put the thing back together.
Best, Stephen Tobias
Every easel is different, kind of hard to say. why don’t you track down the manufacturer?
Hi
I’m actually looking for an old beautiful easel…are you interested in selling yours? Karin
I actually have this same easel and I am looking to sell it. I am in Chicago, feel free to email me if interested. 198one@gmail.com
I have an old Weber that I’m trying to restore. The top piece that holds the canvas is missing. Can you tell me who you spoke to at Weber or who I can contact to find out if I can get a replacement or even a photo or schematic of it to have one made?
Any contact info would be most appreciated, such as an email address so I can send photos to the person you dealt with at the company.
Nice to know other appreciate these old, quality products that have so much warmth and character.
Thanks very much!
Thanks for your comment- you know, my Weber is missing the original top piece as well. This is certainly something I’d be interested in, I’ll write them an email and cc you on it. Great idea.
Leo,thanks for posting this…it’s a wonderful old easel you’ve found, and may it serve you well. I restored an old Friedrich’s crank easel a couple years back and enjoy using it very much.
Weber is now known mostly as the makers of Permalba White. Nice that they cooperated with you.
Hello, I have an old easel that I am interesting in selling. I you would like to see pictures of it or know someone who is interested please contact me.
Thanks!
I once knew an artist who had a large studio easel with a similar cranking mechanism. It had once belonged to the German painter Max Beckman, and was probably European made. I have been looking for a similar one for years, and finally saw one made by Dick Blick which is no longer made. I would like to build a similar easel, but don’t have a clue where you’d get the crank mechanism.