Face repair
Face repair
Sep 17
Just finished repairing a great really old (1700’s) Boxwood piece.
This came in with most of the face missing and a pretty big chunk missing from the front of the lever.
Here are a couple pictures when it came in:
Here’s a photo of it in process of being repaired.
New Boxwood has been attached, carved, and is waiting to be stained and blended.
Here are a couple photos of the piece done:
This was a challenging repair.
I want to thank Arlene Wagner from the Leavenworth Nutcracker Museum for sending me reference photos of pieces she has from this time period so I could make sure the details I needed to add were authentic to the piece.
—– Brandon
Bear chewin’ on a Feedbag
Bear chewin’ on a Feedbag
Sep 10
Here’s a fantastic piece I got to restore recently for one of the Nutcracker Collectors’ Club members.
It’s a really rare screw type nutcracker of a bear chewing on a feedbag.
This piece has a ton of detail and is very well done.
It came in with a broken feedbag nub, hole in the base, and chipped ears.
Here are a couple before pictures:
Here are a couple pictures after all the repairs were made:
This was a fun piece to work on and came out great!
—–Brandon
Dog with a Rat
Dog with a Rat
Sep 04
Here’s a really rare unique screw type nutcracker that came into the shop recently for repairs.
Both ear tips were missing and needed replaced.
Here are a couple before pictures showing the ear tips missing:
Here are a couple pictures showing the piece after I added new ear tips:
The piece came out great and the new ear tips blend seamlessly with the original.
New Piece Available
New Piece Available
Jul 24
I carved a few unique nutcrackers to take to the 2016 Nutcracker Collectors’ Convention.
Here’s a brand new design I came up with for the convention to demonstrate the type of work I do.
It’s a Screw Type Skull Nutcracker. It’s hand carved out of Mahogany, it’s 3 inches tall, and about 5 inches long.
It’s signed and is the first and only one of this design so far. It’s numbered as #1.
This piece is currently available for purchase at Ardoria.com.
Old English Cottage
Old English Cottage
Jul 16
While I collect and restore antique nutcrackers, I also make my own pieces that I sell on occasion.
Recently I carved an Old English Cottage nutcracker to take to the 2016 Nutcracker Collectors’ Convention.
This is a highly detailed piece that I carved out of Walnut just for fun. It’s about 4 inches square and stands about 9 inches tall.
I used Pyrography to add some of the very fine details (door hinges) and accentuate the smaller carvings (window tracery). This also gave the piece a camp fire aroma which was an added bonus!
This was a very fun piece to do and I am very proud to report this piece was bought by the Leavenworth Nutcracker Museum at the convention.
Stay tuned for more great pieces i took to the convention.
—– Brandon
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!