He Restores Antique Parasols

With Study, Determination, and Guidance, he

Restores Antique Parasols

BBy Mary Brotherton

Brandon McKinney stumbled upon two old parasols in an antique mall. “Oh, the days of finding parasols in the wild!”

He bought them, researched, and discovered one was from the 1840s.

“I was hooked,” he said. “I came across pieces that needed work and I started looking for ways to get them repaired.”

Details mattered.

Brandon thought that with enough study, some determination, and guidance, he could do it himself. He started with a blank slate, a late 1850s English beech, folding parasol.

“It took me two years to find the silk I felt gave it the right look, and I learned what stitches were used, though I had never sewn before.”

Crediting Marta Vincent, his mentor and parasol godmother, Brandon said, “While we didn’t always see eye-to-eye, we shared a passion for the same thing, and I’ll forever be grateful for her guidance.”

bUneke M A G A Z I N E .org 20 Brandon keeps his collection in a giant 1830s Biedermeier cabinet he calls parasol Narnia, until they come out for exhibits.

A Brevard County native, Brandon started exploring local history in 2004. He volunteers as a docent at Lawndale, the former home of Hiram Smith Williams, on the National Register of Historic Places.

“I’ve also taken my umbrellas up into the attic of Lawndale for some fun photo shoots. I’ve loaned them to friends for events, but generally they live in their little cave.”

Brandon has restored about 50 pieces, some taking more than a year to complete, due to the need to find the perfect components to bring them back to life.

Still refining his technique

“You learn something new with each piece. I’m still refining my technique.”

Included with the restored projects, Brandon owns almost 200 parasols, focused on two periods: 1845 to 1860, and 1868 to 1875.

“Give yourself the space and permission to follow those passions where they take you, because they can allow you to do amazing things, meet amazing people, and make wonderful friends.”

but there’s only a handful of pieces that date after 1920.”

Though he has sold a few, Brandon prefers not to. “The truth of the matter is, I have a really difficult time selling them, because once I’ve worked on them, they kind of become my children. The few I have sold have been to people I know will care for them.”

Brandon’s current obsession with Lawndale has been figuring out the sequence of construction, as the house was built in three phases but he said this brings up more questions than answers and further research is needed.

“It’s quite exciting. I frequently muse about how the interior of the house was finished and decorated.”

Grateful to his parents

about Victorian architecture and steamboats and art nouveau jewelry as Christmas gifts and is grateful to his parents for encouraging his interests.

“I also like going out to nature preserves, especially in the spring when wildflowers are blooming. If sandhill cranes or scrub jays are involved with those walks, I’m happy as a clam.”

He also reads the 1887 Ladies Manual of Art.

“It’s filled with confusing instructions for techniques with names like vitremanie and diaphanie. The chapter on taxidermy is interesting for the fact that we have this perception of genteel women of this period sitting among doilies, taking callers, and reading sappy poetry, but here they were getting instructions on how to debone a pheasant for stuffing or desiccate molluscs. The closest I’d ever come to that is mounting insects. I’ve made paper flowers, and embroidered with fish scales, called pearl embroidery. I have many skills, that while generally considered useless today, are at least aesthetically pleasing.”

Find your passion.

Brandon encourages everyone to find something they’re passionate about, live it, breathe it, and learn about it.

“Don’t be afraid of jumping in and messing things up, because that’s part of the process. Give yourself the space and permission to follow those passions where they take you, because they can allow you to do amazing things, meet amazing people, and make wonderful friends.” bUneke M A G A Z I N E , .org 21