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.

 

Anri Clown

Anri Clown

Aug 13

 

Here’s a really nice older Anri Clown that looks like it may date back to when they were made in the Groden Valley.

 

This piece came in with an older repair applied to a broken nose and there was a small spot of impact damage to the hair.

 

 

Lucky for me the older repair wasn’t done well and came off easily and clean.

 

 

 

A new chunk of wood was added to the broken nose and a small piece added to fix impact damage to the hair.

 

 

 

Here are pictures of the piece after a lot of carving, blending, painting, and staining.

 

 

 

 

The customer sent final pictures off to an Anri expert in Italy for their opinion before final acceptance of the piece.

 

The verdict was “Perfecto!”.

 

The Process

The Process

Aug 06

 

I’ve had a few inquiries regarding the processes and techniques I use to restore the pieces that come in.

 

The short answer is that everything is done under high magnification and special lighting.

 

The longer answer is, wood specific to the piece and a lot of time and skills are used on each piece to make sure it is accurately restored to the highest quality without compromising the integrity of the piece or its age.

 

A recent restoration I just completed for one of the Nutcracker Collectors’ Club members is a perfect example.

 

The customer sent in a really nice piece of a man wearing a tricorne hat.

 

It had damage to the face (nose) and most of the tricorne hat was missing. Damage to these specific details can detract from the piece’s aesthetics as well as its value.

 

The piece was also missing the feet, but due to this piece’s age they were left alone.

 

The feet missing does not detract from the value, in fact, this type of damage on a piece this old helps to maintain the piece’s integrity and prove its age.

 

Here are some pictures of the piece when it came in:

 

 

 

 

Here’s a great picture of the piece “in process” with many small chunks of period specific European Boxwood joined to it.

 

Each chunk is roughly about the size of a fingernail.

 

 

 

Here are pictures of the piece completed:

 

 

 

 

 

This piece has all the right details in place now that it should, but hasn’t been “over restored” to where the age of the piece might be questioned.

 

 —– Brandon

 

Getting a Handle on Things

Getting a Handle on Things

Jul 31

 

One of the more common breaks I see with nutcrackers are the handles.

 

This is common if the piece gets dropped.

 

I’ve fixed a number of these over the years (most recently – Anri Dog & Rolling Eye Anri) some more difficult than others, but all came out great.

 

Here’s a great piece from one of the Nutcracker Collectors’ Club members that needed the handle repaired.

 

The original piece was gone, so a new one had to be added to the existing break then carved and blended to match.

 

Here’s a before picture showing where the handle was broke.

 

 

Here are a few pictures of the piece all fixed and ready to be put back out on display:

 

 

 

 

The piece came out great and the customer was very pleased with it.

 

—–Brandon

 

 

 

 

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