Anri Owl
Anri Owl
May 19
Here’s a really nice Anri Owl that came in recently for repair.
It was missing the right ear tuft and bottom beak.
Here’s a quick pic with new wood added before carving and blending:
Here’s the piece fully restored:
This little owl came out great and the customer was very happy with the restoration.
A not so Simple Groden!
A not so Simple Groden!
Feb 18
I was contacted by a customer who purchased a Groden that had been previously repaired.
The mouth was repaired in such a way that it threw the alignment off and set the chest too far back in. (*click on photos for a larger view)
On a less rare piece where authenticity isn’t an issue, moving the pin would be an option.
On a rare piece like a Groden, the less the original wood on the piece is disturbed, the better.
Getting the chest to line up, required a lot of material to be removed from the previously repaired mouth which then pushed the mouth too far back into the piece and out of alignment.
To fix this, new wood was added to the mouth to build it back out.
The new wood was then carved, blended, and stained to match the original finish and the aged patina on the piece.
This is a lot of work, but it’s worth it to not disturb the original wood and maintain this piece’s authenticity.
—–Brandon
Black Forest Gnome
Black Forest Gnome
Oct 31
Here’s a great gnome carved in the Black Forest style.
It came in with a broken beard.
Got it all fixed up and made a custom base for it.
This piece came out great and has been added to my own personal collection.
A big thank you goes out to one of my blog readers for sending me the link to this piece on Ebay!
—– Brandon
New Piece
New Piece
Mar 04
Here’s a new piece we just added to our collection.
I bought it off of Ebay. It was in need of some dental work and a finish refresh.
Here are a few pictures of the piece before I worked on it:
The face looked fat to me so I reshaped it a little, fixed the teeth, refreshed the stain, and finished it off with a couple coats of satin clear.
Here are a few pictures of the piece after the restoration work:
This piece really came out great and turned out to be a really nice birthday present for my wife.
—– Brandon
Another Anri Dog
Another Anri Dog
Nov 19
Got another Anri Dog in for repairs.
This one had a broken handle almost identical to the break on the one I fixed a few moths ago for the Leavenworth Nutcracker museum.
You can see the one I fixed a few moths ago for the Leavenworth Nutcracker museum HERE. Very odd the breaks were so similar.
Here’s a quick picture of the current piece that came in and and the broken handle:
Here are a couple pictures of the piece all fixed:
I was very pleased with how well this piece came out.
—–Brandon
Anri Parrot
Anri Parrot
Oct 29
With Fall in the air and Winter just around the corner, I’ve been trying to get some of the outdoor work done before bad weather hits. In between sealing the drive, raking leaves, etc., I’m still able to squeeze in some restorations.
Here’s a really rare Anri Parrot that was sent in by a Nutcracker Collectors’ Club member. It was missing the beak and was in need of an overall refresh on the finish.
Here are some before pictures when it arrived:
Here are a few pictures after the repairs and clean up:
Here’s a couple shots of the back of the piece showing that this piece actually still has the Anri sticker intact.
That not only adds to the rarity of the piece, but verifies the age of it as well.
Based on the Anri Logo Legend below, that sticker dates this piece to 1925.
This was a great piece to work on. These are crazy rare and even more so with the sticker intact.
The customer was very happy with the repairs and age sensitive finish refresh that was done to this piece.
A big “Thank You” goes out to the the original owner of this piece who contacted me before posting it for sale on Ebay. He emailed me to get permission to mention my shop in his description as a trusted source to get the piece repaired.
The winning bidder turned out to be one of my customers who was very impressed to see my shop mentioned in the Ebay ad. Again, thank you.
—– Brandon