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
Anri – Rolling Eye Woman
Anri – Rolling Eye Woman
May 13
Here is a another very 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 previous repair on the handle and bit of damage around the mouth and bonnet.
I was able to separate the old repair performed on the handle, re-join the pieces, and blend them to make the repair seamless.
Here are more pictures after the restoration showing the mouth and bonnet repairs.
Here are a couple pictures showing why these are called “Rolling Eye” Anris. The eyes roll and change color when the lever is moved.
—– Brandon
Too Eager
Too Eager
Apr 30
Yep, sometimes I get too eager to work on a piece and forget to get before photos. this is one of those instances.
This piece came in from one of the Nutcracker Collectors Club members with a lot of cracks and checks throughout. Some actually went completely through the piece.
Here are some photos of the piece after it was repaired. All the cracks and checks have been stabilized, filled, and blended to match the rest of the piece. Lots of work, but it’s worth it.
This piece had a carving of some sorts on the top that had broken off. The customer wanted the remnants of it removed and blended with the rest of the top’s texture.
This was a great piece with a ton of detail and was a lot of fun to work on.
The customer was very happy with how well it came out.
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!