Antique restorations are not a simple process. It is not just a question of making an item functional once more. It should be functional but its appearance matters too and should be as close to possible to how it looked when it was first made.
The process of restoring pieces is therefore an art as well as a craft. It should not be undertaken lightly. It is a craft in the sense that many skills are involved in the process, from the methods used to restore the construction and those to enhance the appearance. It is an art in that the restorer needs to know at what point to stop so that the original character is preserved.
In order to be classified as an antique, an item must be a 100 years old or more. This means that it has suffered a great deal of wear and tear. It requires knowledge and sensitivity to know which of these marks are essential to the character of the piece and which can be removed. There are certain marks which should definitely not be removed such as certain grooves left by the use of handheld tools or any numbers.
The intricacy of the process and all the skills required means that learning the business does not happen overnight. It takes years to pick up the necessary skills. Some restorers are lucky enough to have gone through an apprenticeship program of many years to learn these skills.
The complexity of the work means that a great variety of skills are needed. A working knowledge of materials and their behavior is just one necessary area of study. A love of history also helps. A certain amount of physical stamina is needed too as much of the work involves hours of painstaking labor.
If pieces are damaged to such an extent that materials need to be replaced, using the right ones is important. Materials have to be sourced which are as close as possible to those used originally. For example, reupholstering a chair with a type of fabric not found in the era in which it was made would destroy its authenticity. Some restorers use a combination of old and new methods and tools. Others stick entirely to the tools, methods and materials which would have been used to make the item in the first place.
In order to restore antiques correctly, it is vital to have the necessary knowledge, skills, workshop and storage space. Without these it is easy to make mistakes resulting in diminishing the value. Individuals may regard certain jobs to be simple such as cleaning and replacing hardware but even these apparently simple tasks must be done correctly. An item can lose its patina if cleaned incorrectly and the right hardware has to be sourced which is consistent with the other details of the piece.
Minor repairs such as replacing missing hardware or gluing on a missing leg may be attempted by individuals. However, even replacing missing hardware such as a knob requires sourcing an article which matches other parts of the piece. Major antique restorations are best left to those who understand exactly what is required in order to retain and enhance the character of a beautiful piece.
The process of restoring pieces is therefore an art as well as a craft. It should not be undertaken lightly. It is a craft in the sense that many skills are involved in the process, from the methods used to restore the construction and those to enhance the appearance. It is an art in that the restorer needs to know at what point to stop so that the original character is preserved.
In order to be classified as an antique, an item must be a 100 years old or more. This means that it has suffered a great deal of wear and tear. It requires knowledge and sensitivity to know which of these marks are essential to the character of the piece and which can be removed. There are certain marks which should definitely not be removed such as certain grooves left by the use of handheld tools or any numbers.
The intricacy of the process and all the skills required means that learning the business does not happen overnight. It takes years to pick up the necessary skills. Some restorers are lucky enough to have gone through an apprenticeship program of many years to learn these skills.
The complexity of the work means that a great variety of skills are needed. A working knowledge of materials and their behavior is just one necessary area of study. A love of history also helps. A certain amount of physical stamina is needed too as much of the work involves hours of painstaking labor.
If pieces are damaged to such an extent that materials need to be replaced, using the right ones is important. Materials have to be sourced which are as close as possible to those used originally. For example, reupholstering a chair with a type of fabric not found in the era in which it was made would destroy its authenticity. Some restorers use a combination of old and new methods and tools. Others stick entirely to the tools, methods and materials which would have been used to make the item in the first place.
In order to restore antiques correctly, it is vital to have the necessary knowledge, skills, workshop and storage space. Without these it is easy to make mistakes resulting in diminishing the value. Individuals may regard certain jobs to be simple such as cleaning and replacing hardware but even these apparently simple tasks must be done correctly. An item can lose its patina if cleaned incorrectly and the right hardware has to be sourced which is consistent with the other details of the piece.
Minor repairs such as replacing missing hardware or gluing on a missing leg may be attempted by individuals. However, even replacing missing hardware such as a knob requires sourcing an article which matches other parts of the piece. Major antique restorations are best left to those who understand exactly what is required in order to retain and enhance the character of a beautiful piece.
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