TCC's Executive Administrator Sally Johnson reminisces about her first account: her parent's antique mirror from Les Puces flea market in Paris:
"Not too long after I started working at The Conservation Center, my mother decided to send a mirror in to be conserved. My family never knew the monetary value of the mirror, but the memory it holds is priceless to us: after moving oversees to live in Paris, my parents ventured out to one of Paris' famed flea markets, Le Marche aux Puces St-Ouen du Clignancourt; having tested their French in haggling, my parents walked away with a beautiful gilded oval mirror.
The treatment of my mother's mirror is, and will remain, one of my favorite stories from The Center. It was one of the first projects for which I was a part of the arrival, examination, and treatment. It was a learning experience, made all the more memorable given my personal attachment to the piece. While my mother has always loved the mirror for its beauty, it is the memory that makes it so dear. The mirror has hung on the walls of various homes as my family has moved from place to place. Now in Chicago, our newly treated mirror adorns our parlor wall."
