1190 19A. A magic number, if ever I saw one. The enchantment lies not in the digits’ sequence but in their sheer visibility after years spent buried beneath layers of grime. The fact that the number is etched on a gadget that once witnessed the hubbub of Villa Guardamangia’s kitchen completes this aura of mystery and wonder.

Ninette Sammut, a senior conservator at Heritage Malta, holds the gadget with utmost care and gazes at it lovingly as she stands in the conservation lab that holds various appliances once vital in the daily running of the household of none other than Princess Elizabeth.

Freshly married and still in their 20s, the Princess and Prince Philip resided at Villa Guardamangia intermittently between 1949 and 1951. The utensils that made life easier for their domestic help are now being given a new lease of life by Heritage Malta’s conservators after years of neglect.

They comprise a cooker, a refrigerator initially thought to be a clothes boiler, a washing machine, and a boiler that provided central heating throughout the villa. They might sound like basic facilities in today’s world but 70 years ago, many local housewives still hand-washed the family’s clothes, cooked meals on small kerosene stoves, and could only dream of refrigeration and central heating. The appliances are top of the range, which could explain their durability despite being assembled such a long time ago.

A ‘handle’ (gadget), which fits perfectly onto a metal grid to be able to remove it from the oven while still hot.

Kenneth Gambin, Heritage Malta’s chief operations officer, points out that the refrigerator and cooker are almost certainly those purchased by Lord Mountbatten around November 1948. They were bought for £83 and £117 respectively, and the necessary arrangements were made for the installation of pipework for a water-heating system.

“Mountbatten offered to purchase them directly in an attempt to hasten the process of actually moving into the villa, which he finally did on December 26, 1948, on condition that he could deduct two-thirds of their cost from his £50 monthly rent of Villa Guardamangia, since eventually they would remain at the villa and thus become the possessions of the owner of the villa, Joseph Schembri. Schembri agreed to Mountbatten’s proposed deal. The refrigerator and the cooker were to be installed by Schembri’s electrician – Anthony Abela of 69, Kingsway Street, Valletta – and at his expense. Schembri also sought advice regarding the heating system from G. N. Haden and Sons Ltd of London,” Gambin clarifies.

The appliances were produced by different manufacturers, none of whom, strangely enough, was British. For instance, the washing machine, complete with wringer, was made in America and its brand reads ‘Easy’, while the cooker was produced in Belgium by LFB.

Whoever looks at the washing machine should instantly comprehend what it is

However, there could be some kind of British connection which until now is still unknown and will, therefore, require more research. In all probability, such appliances were not found locally at the time and consequently would have been brought over to Malta specifically for Villa Guardamangia.

As Sammut and her colleagues explain, the main aim behind this conservation project is not to restore the appliances to working order but to stabilise their condition and facilitate their interpretation.

“The biggest challenge in the stabilisation part is to ensure that our treatment does not alter the metal’s microstructure and that the material we use to strengthen the metal does not lead to further corrosion. As for interpretation, we have to make all these objects readable. Whoever looks at the washing machine, for example, should instantly comprehend what it is and be transported back to the time when it was used,” Sammut says.

The washing machine before and after restoration.

"Even in their current transitional state, the appliances easily take me back to Villa Guardamangia in its heyday. I can inhale the wonderful smells coming out of that oven, guess what’s cooking and feel the anticipation in my taste buds. I can see that fridge – despite its relatively small storage space – brimming with goodies fit for a prince and a princess. I can even hear that old wringer’s whirring, smell the fragrance of freshly washed clothes, watch the bustling maids hanging them to dry in the Maltese sun."

Even the smallest things help in this imaginary distortion of time. A couple of Player’s Navy Cut cigarette butts discovered inside the cooker, for instance. As I see them carefully wrapped in protective material, I can’t help wondering what the person or persons who smoked them would have thought had they known how closely those tobacco rolls would be scrutinised. A small dry weed, which could possibly have been a culinary herb and is still being analysed, was also found in the oven.

That appliance produced some other intriguing items as well. One of them is a metal grid that could be heated, possibly for an iron to be placed upon it when garments needed to be smoothened out. A ‘handle’ (the gadget with the magic number inscribed on it) fits perfectly onto the grid to be able to remove it while still hot. Of particular interest to me is a small piece of newspaper found stuck to the back of the tray inside one of the cooker’s compartments. The name and date of the paper are missing, but one can decipher that the topic tackled in the article has to do with refugees in the US and how much they cost the government.

All the appliances and related gadgets have been meticulously photographed and documented. Research has been conducted on the various manufacturers and is still ongoing. A treatment plan has been drawn up for each object and conservators are hard at work.

“Rust is the main issue here. Corrosion would be a better word, since we’re dealing with different metals in each item – zinc, aluminium, iron, enamel, chrome and copper-based metals. Our aim is to create a barrier between them and to take other precautionary measures against future corrosion,” Sammut explains.

A restorer working on one of the stone statues that that once adorned Villa Guardamangia’s back garden.

Conservation of stone statues

Her team has also been tasked with conserving several stone statues that once adorned Villa Guardamangia’s back garden. Carved out of globigerina limestone, these were made locally, probably by a single artist who is, as yet, unknown and whom Sammut describes as very talented with a keen eye for detail. Some statues seem to represent a season, others likely portray mythological figures.

The main difficulty here is not the conservation work itself but matching heads with bodies, since most statues were sadly found headless. No head is fixed to a body unless there is absolute certainty that the two belong together. Even after the project is completed, there will be statues that remain headless, and heads whose bodies are still missing. The lack of photos showing the garden when the statues were in place makes the task all the more demanding.

Following documentation and cleaning, the many layers of paint that covered the statues along the years need to be removed. Ninette, however, is quick to point out that these layers were a godsend because although the paint obscured the statues’ detail, it served as a protective film against erosion.

When the original stonework is finally uncovered, the heads will be fixed to their respective bodies wherever possible. Plastic repair may also be required to fill out some missing parts and strengthen the structure (interestingly, the statues are weaker from the waist down since this is the part that absorbs most moisture). The final touch is what is known as ‘velatura’, where the stone surface is reinforced with a compatible protective layer and its colour is unified.

All this painstaking work is just a fraction of what is going on behind the scenes as Villa Guardamangia is slowly brought back to life by Heritage Malta. The halls of that stately home breathe softly now, waiting in profound silence, reminiscing the chatter of guests gathered for afternoon tea, the clinking of glasses at dinner parties, the laughter of children frolicking in a pristine garden, the murmured gossip of liveried servants going about their chores, the aromas wafting out of that stove. But life will flow through those halls once more. It might take a few years, but Villa Guardamangia is set to become a jewel in a crown yet again.

Daniela Attard Bezzina is principal officer, communications, at Heritage Malta.