Other Work from My Grandfather

As promised, I am posting pictures of other pieces my grandfather made.  The first one is a sleigh.  He made several wagons, three I think, but only one sleigh.  It belongs to my sister and was specifically made for her by our Grandpa.  I had refinished and repainted the wood, as well as made new leather straps that go from the wagon to the harness.  But I did not remake the harness itself.  I like the way the harness turned out for my cousin's wagon.  I have enough calf's leather to make harnesses for my wagon and my sister's sleigh.  When I have time, I will remake those later.




The next two pictures are of the house my grandfather made.  My understanding is that it is a stylized replica of the home in which my grandfather grew up.  He actually made two of these, if you can believe it!  One remains in our family.  The other, my grandfather reportedly donated to the Lithuanian language newspaper that had been published in Chicago.  After the newspaper shut down it was supposed to be transferred to the Lithuanian National Museum in Lamont, IL for display.  However, our family believes that it is now lost, since it is not on display, and no one knows what happened to it.  We (or more accurately, my cousin, who's wagon I refurbished) are looking into locating it.  If we ever do, I think we'll try to either get it to the museum, or try to reacquire it. 

What always fascinated me were the inappropriately sized lawn ornaments he carved to go with the house.  Growing up, it was my job to dust and clean the house, lawn ornaments, and picket fence.  What a chore that was!  You can bet that I'll be finding an acrylic display box to enclose the house and other items sometime soon.  Thankfully, the house does not need any repairs or refinishing. 

 My grandfather was talented, no doubt about that.  I hope everyone who sees his work here appreciates the skill he displayed.  Thank you for following my adventure in refurbishing one of his pieces.