Groden Update

Groden Update

May 21

 

 

If you remember, I fixed a Groden a few months back (http://www.brandonetto.com/?p=2712).

 

I only had to do the repairs, the customer’s wife was going to paint it once they got it back.

 

The piece is done, and they were kind enough to send me photos of it painted.

 

All I have to say is – Wow! She did a fantastic job!

 

Here is a quick reminder of how the Groden looked when it left my shop:

 

 

 

Here’s a picture they sent of the Groden painted. She really did an awesome job on this!

 

 

 

—– Brandon

Rolling Eye Anri – Man

Rolling Eye Anri – Man

Apr 20

 

 

Here is a rare Rolling Eye Anri that came in for repair from the Leavenworth Nutcracker Museum.

 

As you can see in the pictures below, this piece had a bit of damage around the mouth.

The face was also starting to split on each side of the nose where the wood runs thin.

 

 

 

Here are a few pictures of the piece after the repairs:

 

 

 

 

This picture shows how the eyes roll when the lever s pulled to open the mouth:

 

 

As I mentioned before these are very rare. I’ve been very fortunate to have had the opportunity to work on a few of these.

 

—– Brandon

 

 

Anri Old Man

Anri Old Man

Apr 09

 

The previous piece was an old woman, so it’s only fitting I post the Old Man Anri repair.

 

This guy came in missing most of the nose.

 

 

Here he is all fixed up with his new nose:

 

 

 

 

If you are keeping count, this was #5 from the Leavenworth Nutcracker Museum.

 

 

Anri Old Woman

Anri Old Woman

Apr 02

 

That Groden was a fun piece, now back to the Anris Arlene Wagner sent from The Leavenworth Nutcracker Museum.

 

Here’s an old woman Anri that had a lot of damage to the lower jaw. This is a common break because people think the nuts get cracked in the piece’s mouth like a traditional soldier style nutcracker.

 

Most if not all figural nutcrackers are made assuming the nut will be cracked in the back between the lever and body. So when people try to crack nuts in the mouth, they get broken.

 

Here is the piece before the lower jaw was rebuilt:

 

 

Here are some photos after the piece was fixed:

 

 

 

 

 

This is #4 of the nine pieces received from The Leavenworth Nutcracker Museum.

 

More to come soon.

 

A Groden

A Groden

Mar 26

 

I’ve been posting a lot of Anri Nutcrackers lately so I figured a recent Groden repair would fit right in.

 

Grodens and Anris are kind of related. The Groden valley of Italy produced nutcrackers as far back as the 1700s and may have been a contributing factor to the famous nutcracker production firm called Anri to be established by the Italian artisan, Anton Riffeser in the 1920s in northern Italy.

 

The Groden nutcrackers pre-date the Anris. They are very rare and highly sought after by collectors.

 

I’ve been very fortunate to have had a few of these very rare pieces come through my shop over the years. Grodens are prone to having base and feet problems. The wood grain runs vertical throughout the piece which causes these areas to be weak.

 

The piece that came into the shop was no exception:

 

 

 

Here you can see I’ve added a new base, feet, and carved a new lever.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is as far as I’m going on this piece, the customer is going to paint and finish it.

 

I’m hoping they send me pictures once its done!

 

Anri Chef

Anri Chef

Mar 23

 

Here’s a great example of an Anri Chef nutcracker.

This one came in with a couple chunks missing from the chef’s hat.

 

Here’s a picture of it in process of being repaired:

 

 

Here are some photos after the repairs:

 

 

This piece had a very unique patina that was a challenge to replicate. As you can see by the following photo, it came out perfect.

 

 

The shop has been really busy so stay tuned for more posts coming soon!

 

—– Brandon