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