When
this Victorian chair was discovered
in a second-hand shop on South Street
in Philadelphia, it was nothing more
than fragments in a bag. Some pieces
were broken. Some had nails poking
through them. Others were covered
in plaster. But we saw the promise
of a beautiful restoration and took
it back to our workshop.
To our amazement,
after assessing all the parts in the
bag, not a single piece was missing.
Though in terrible shape, we had virtually
every original component necessary
to put this chair back together. We
repaired every break, at times hand-carving
details that had been lost to damage,
and assembled and glued the entire
piece.
For the finish,
not a single detail was overlooked.
Everything from the stain to the gold
leafing to the upholstery was carefully
chosen to be true to the Victorian
period. And when we were finished,
what was once a bag of neglected parts
in the corner of a second-hand shop
was now a beautiful tribute to the
Renaissance Revival period.
|