Damaged portraits are being restored
Published 5:56 pm Thursday, January 21, 2010
By By KEVIN SCOTT CUTLER
Lifestyles & Features Editor
Editors note: This article is the first of three articles in a series about damaged portraits at the Beaufort County Courthouse.
A hunt for Christmas decorations two years ago unearthed a treasure trove of damaged paintings hidden in a closet in the Beaufort County Courthouse.
Efforts are under way to repair the portraits, which depict five leading Beaufort County residents from the past, and hang them in the Superior Courtroom, according to Clerk of Court Marty Paramore.
The paintings, which had been wrapped in cardboard, were spied behind mops, buckets and cleaning materials in a closet under a stairway.
When we found them, we thought they had originally hung in the courtroom since there were vacant spots on the wall, Paramore said. The paintings had been removed due to damage.
The story behind that damage was revealed by Jim Vosburg, former attorney and Superior Court judge. Vosburg was a lawyer involved in what turned out to be a particularly contentious child-custody case that was brought before Judge Hallet Ward.
This was in 1968 or 1968, in the old courthouse, Vosburg recalled. It was a very, very vicious custody proceeding. Things got really unpleasant, and the court recessed for a two-hour lunch break.
During the recess, the little boy who was at the center of the custody battle managed to get his hands on a handmade gavel that had been presented to Ward, Vosburg said.
He took that gavel and threw it at every portrait in the courtroom, causing damage, he said.
The portraits being restored depict James E. Shepherd, a judge and justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court; Stephen Bragaw, Superior Court judge; George H. Brown, a North Carolina Supreme Court justice and Superior Court judge; Col. William Blount Rodman II, a noted lawyer; and Edward Warren, a lawyer and grandfather of Lindsay C. Warren, a former member of the U.S. House of Representatives.
Damage to the portraits ranged from small dents in the paint to sizable tears in the canvas, according to Paramore. The portraits of Bragaw and Warren have been repaired and rehung in the courtroom.
A few months after the paintings were discovered, Paramore approached the Beaufort County Board of Commissioners to seek funds to repair the damage. In a recent interview, he noted that his request came before the current budget crisis in the county.
In a letter to the commissioners, Paramore acknowledged that he did not know the cost involved in restoring the artwork.
But I believe this is a most worthwhile endeavor, he wrote. It is only right that these items not be lost but restored and placed back where they were originally intended.
During its July 7, 2008, meeting, the board voted unanimously to fund the repairs, at a total cost not to exceed $3,000.
Happy that the portraits would be repaired, Paramore solicited bids on the work. To his shock and disappointment, a Raleigh art conservator submitted a nonbinding estimate that ranged from $12,500 to $17,500. And that didnt include needed repairs to the ornate frames.
Discouraged, Paramore feared the restoration work couldnt be done. Then, a local artist came forward and became intrigued with the project.
The story of the paintings project continues in Fridays Daily News as Washington artist Nancy Scoble takes on the challenge of repairing the historic artifacts.