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| An early 19th century carved
and water gilded looking glass |
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An
early 19th century carved gilded mirror missing its
focal ornament. After extensive research and digital
prototyping a replacement classical urn was carved from
lime wood
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The
replacement sections were water gilded in the traditional
manner before toning in to match the existing gilding
scheme. |
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| An early 18th century Boulle
marquetry clock and bracket |
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This
Boulle style clock case required extensive restoration.
Approximately 25% of the brass and 10% of the turtle-shell
was missing. The remaining marquetry needed removing
to stabilise the substrate
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The
ormolu mounts carried a duty stamp for 1740 allowing
accurate dating. Working alongside a clock conservator
and with specialist restoration to the enamel dial the
treatment was a great success |
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| A 17th century pilgrims model
of the Basilica of the Holy Sepulchre |
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This
heavily damaged Olive-wood pilgrims model required extensive
structural repair and replacement of missing mother
of pearl sections.
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Ivory
sections were replaced using cast epoxy resins and the
full treatment is entirely reversible |
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| A late 18th century satinwood
cased white dial clock |
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This
unusual clock had been stored innapropriately for many
years. A full restoration to the case and movement were
necessary to return the clock to working order.
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The replacement carving was matched with the original,
and many missing sections of banding had to be hand
cut from the solid.
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| An early 19th century marble
specimen table |
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The
Damaged gilding usually represents a larger area of
loose or cleaved gesso.
New gesso is built up as on the right, around 15 coats
for this project.
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The
replacement gilding here was 23.25ct gold leaf carefully
matched to the original gilding, applied in the traditional
manner.
Finally the new gilding is toned in to match the original
surface using a protective size coat. |
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| A Regency convex mirror |
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This
badly damaged regency convex mirror had structural damage
as well as lost and over painted gilding
The fragile and detached areas were consolidated and
carefully reattached using Isinglass injected under
the lifted areas.
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Final
frame repairs are done before the new carefully colour
matched bole is applied.
The replacement gilding here was 23.25ct gold leaf
carefully matched to the original gilding, applied in
the traditional manner.
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| Finally
the new gilding is toned in to match the original surface
and highlights burnished on the water gilded areas.
A protective coat of micro-crystalline wax completes
the treatment.
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| A Regency work table |
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| This
regency work table had been altered around 100 years ago
with the marriage of straight tapering legs. These were
removed to allow consolidation of the remaining carcass. |
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| New
components were constructed from period timber in the
traditional nineteenth century manner. |
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| After
repairing the top and replacing missing cross banding
the new components were attached and coloured in to match
the original. |
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| A 19th century satinwood elbow
chair |
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| This
chair was missing all 4 feet along with various splits
and damaged caning. New feet were turned using Satin Birch,
the splits were all consolidated and the chair re-caned. |
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| An 18th century walnut fauteuil |
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A
difficult break in this walnut fauteuil was carefully
built up using 7 different splices of old walnut to
provide an almost invisible and very strong repair.
FTIR was used to establish repair history and allow
controlled reversibility. |
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| A 17th century Italian chair |
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| This
rare late 17th century chair had suffered extensive common
furniture beetle damage. After treating the infestation
the damaged timber was consolidated and the missing area
reconstructed by epoxy casting over japanese tissue. |
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| A coaching table |
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| This
pretty folding mahogany coaching table was reproduced
from a photograph, as you can see some alterations were
made to the original dimensions and design by adding a
bespoke brass arrow detail and a handmade brass catch. |
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| Reconstruction of an 18th
century Pole Lathe method of producing twist turnings |
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| After
research a pole lathe was built from seasoned larch, this
example capable of centre and bowl turning. After some
practice to master the basics I was ready to produce a
twist. |
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| After
marking out the pitch in the 18th century manner a saw
cut provided the basis for roughing out the twist with
gouges. |
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Then
came the coarse medium and fine rasps, followed by coarse
medium and fine files.
The final sanding was done using sharkskin and the
twists burnished with shavings to complete the finish. |
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| Casting of brass components |
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To
reproduce a specific brass casting one option available
is sand casting.
A wooden "plug" is made along with a mold
to cast a "core" from sand - excluding the
melt from the negative space. |
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The
brass is heated in a crucible along with borax to inhibit
oxidation during the pour. The casing can be seen on
the right before removal of excess material. |
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After
removal and shaping, files were softened - shaped and
re-tempered into scrapers to produce an authentic finish
and witness toolmarks.
The process is repeated for all components - the finished
castor (1 of 4) can be seen on the right |
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