A Lost Treasure, Serendipitously Returned!
By Kevin Wisney, Curator & Director of Collections
At Filoli, we’re on a mission to restore the lost treasures of our Historic House collection. We scour the archive and historic photos to envision what the decor looked like when the Bourn family moved in in 1917 – and to identify specific missing pieces that we would love to return to their original places.
This process can be slow and frustrating. But once in a while… you win the curatorial lottery. Let me tell you the story of a lost treasure that found its way home to us, almost by accident.
I am constantly looking over upcoming antique auctions, with an eye out for objects that would help us tell the Filoli story. For each room, I have identified “signature” pieces that define the space and would make a big impact to restore the original aesthetic. These could be an artwork, a sculpture, or a very significant piece of furniture.
In this search, I follow a great number of leads. Most turn out to be dead ends.
Ideally, I am looking for the original object or one of equal historic value. This can feel like searching for a needle in a haystack, so I also consider placeholders: less expensive options to still give the feeling of the original piece but without the high price tag.
Recently a good friend of Filoli and the Curatorial department shared a link to an auction house in Los Angeles, called Andrew Jones Auctions. When I scanned the list of upcoming objects for sale, a pair of gilded torchieres caught my eye.
You can think of them as giant plant or candle stands. We already had a pair that belonged to the Bourn family and generally are displayed in the Ballroom. But I knew from our archive that there was originally another pair of torchieres that the Bourns liked to keep in the Reception Room.
The torchieres at the auction house intrigued me. Finding a matching pair of anything is a rare thing!
I sent the web link to Filoli’s President and CEO, Kara Newport, and she agreed that these could be a good placeholder for the missing Reception Room torchieres. I was encouraged to bid on them but to keep it very conservative. Our reasoning was, “If we get them, we get them. If not, then that is OK.”
To be honest, after placing the bid, I more or less forgot about them.
The auction came and went. Soon, an email popped up telling me that my bid had won. I was happy because it was a fairly low bid. I was going to be in LA for a site visit, so I could pick them up in person (often, shipping costs turn out to be higher than the price of the item itself).
I was on the phone when the art handlers at the auction house brought the torchieres out to the loading dock, but I noticed that one of them had an old black-and-white photo taped to it. It showed the torchiere in place, in a home, and on top of the torchiere was an electrolier (an electrified candelabra) decorated with triangular purple crystal drops.
“That is strange,” I mused. “ I have never seen something like that anywhere except in the sconces of the Ballroom at Filoli.”
Still talking on the phone, I looked closer at the picture and realized that behind the torchiere was our Reception Room wallpaper. That could only mean one thing. These torchieres once belonged to the Bourn family at Filoli!
I was ecstatic. When I got back to Filoli, my team was able to match the pair to a historic record in our archive and confirm that they were one and the same. The torchieres had come full circle: originally purchased by Agnes Bourn, they elegantly decorated this home for years before being sold in 1975 and tucked away.
Now, they stand proudly back in the Reception Room, telling a story of 20th-century California wealth, but more importantly, of a family home that was well-loved and well-lived.
The House seems to be calling back its furnishings, aching to return to its original understated elegance.
What will we find next?
Thank you to the good friend of Filoli and the Curatorial Department, who not only shared the link to the auction house, but also generously made a donation to Filoli for the acquisition of the torchieres.