More works in progress....

Hello everyone, once again I have been snowed under with the amount of works I have on the boil. Sorry for not posting more frequently but I'm under the hammer as such. The last two months have been, well, hectic. I have started doing Antiquities recently and frankly, it's been freaking me out. It is a very strange headspace to be working on a piece that is 2000 years old. I've always been of the method to try and attain the same techniques as the original artist and achieve some kind of sympathetic result. It's very taxing but well worth the extra effort.

Anyways, here are a few photos, enjoy.

A pair of Art Nouveau chalkware vases from 1910-20, they look in much better shape now.

Centre piece is a bronze Indo -Chinese statue from 400 AD. Around the base are rings from various countries, predominantly the Middle East.

These are probably the most stunning ivory carvings that I have ever seen. From China, about 1870-1910.

Art Deco lamp, need I say more?

Chinese Rosewood sculpture. Amazing piece that had been neglected for about 30 years, he weighs roughly 125 kgs. My studio is on the 3rd floor, ow.

Far left, Kohl bottle in the shape of a bird 50 AD. Background right, Bactrian horse amulet, bronze 5 BC. Foreground, 3 Mongoose coffins from Egypt, 25 BC

Well, as you can see I have had a wide array of pieces coming through my door at the moment, some of the pieces are a tad weird but that's the luck of the draw with what has been made in the past. I look forward to seeing what is going to need help in being restored for the future.

Thanks for dropping by,

Cahl.

Current photo of studio...

Hello all. This is the current state of affairs with my studio space. The space itself is 6ft x 6ft. It's full.
There is also more repairs coming in as of today and thankfully they are of small bronzes from Indo-China. As they say, when it rains, it pours but this is decidedly monsoonal....

left to right: Chinese vase from 16th century, John Bell sculpture, William Ricketts sculpture, Various Moore pieces, 2 Oil paintings from the late 1890s,  Moorecroft bowl, Japanese lacqureware piece, Victorian crystal vase, 2 French Deco chalware vases and a pair of 1910 scrimshaw pieces. Oh, then there are the bronzes which I forgot to mention.

Now then, I may or may not be able to continue with blog updates due to being hellishly busy but I will try to add photos and snippets over the next weeks or so.

Thanks for dropping by, now go and smash something and support your local business.

Recent restorations

Hello all, Happy New Year and such (19 days late, but that's the way us restorers work). Christmas is never really a busy time for restorations so I actually had a bit of a holiday, a kind of working holiday. I ended up being approached by a few people to work on a few projects, but this time at my own leisure.
In the break I also revisited studying about conservation for oil paintings and bronze works. It's good to refine the old brain for such matters.

Enjoy the photos, you'll find the descriptions either attached to the photo or just near it, scroll down. Any questions? just ask....


This is a Moorish piece from about the 1920's. A lot of the detailed gold filigree work was coming away from the plaster base so thus I had to stabilise the substructure by injecting glues under the skin of the plaster. The rest was just a cosmetic overhaul.

Detail of filigree.

Next piece is one of my favourites that I have recently worked upon, yes, a Raku whale fighting a giant squid!! at last! Another piece from the early 20th century. Amazing details, humour and expression throughout. The tentacles, fins and tail had been smashed off. Had to re-glue the piece and fill, then paint. I was pretty happy with the results, so was the fish and chips shop owner that it went to. Ah, restorations, weird times...

Raku whale and giant squid!

Here is another photo showing the disgruntled look of the whale. In hindsight I should have offered to buy the piece.

Squid goes "WAHOOOO"

Next photos are of the usual repairs that I do, chips and cracks, chips and cracks....

Chips and cracks.

As much as I dislike working on chips and cracks, I find that it hones my skills and settles the mind. Sometimes the act of repetition steadies the soul keeps the eyes attuned to the details that other people don't bother to look at. Some of the most "basic" vases are the ones that will blow your mind when you look closely at them. See the one in the middle (above)? 200 years old, 4 different glazes and two firings at different temperatures. It's survived all of that and I helped it along for hopefully another 200 years worth of appreciation. 

Just remember folks, "The devils in the detail".

Thanks for dropping by.