PORT TOWNSEND — Shipping a nearly $7,000 chandelier to the U.S. Capitol is no quick and easy task.
Just ask Ken and Jane Kelly, owners of Vintage Hardware, 2000 Sims Way, Port Townsend, who on Wednesday sent off a reproduction of an Oxley-Giddings 1870 gasolier, with 10 lamps and elegant hand-blown and carved glass globe shades.
Destination: the Architect of the Capitol office.
“We have to do it the way they want it,” Jane said of sending off the luxurious 45-inch-tall fixture.
Packing such an intricate order involves a four-foot square metal crate to protect it from forklift damage.
Lots of bubble and recycled foam packing material protects the fixture’s delicate parts.
It took five days to package the chandelier, an arduous task that requires assembly and checking hundreds of crystals, she said.
