Hey Bruce, definitely a light clean and polish only. What you’ve done so far is spot on. Any more than this would detract from its age and patina. BTW, was in your village the other week and we went to your beach to see the seals and a beer in the Newburgh Inn. Lovely part of the world.
Hi Mark - thanks. I'm working on the part 2 video as the restoration/conservation is complete. I've gone a little further than a light clean and polish on the marquetry ...but have not removed stains and history from the rest. Leave you to decide when you've seen the next video! As to Newburgh beach and Britains largerst seal colony - best we keep that our secret? The Udny Arms is under rennovation (I did their front door) and it will be opening in the New Year and should also be an excellent place to stop for a beer also. Again best we keep all of this under wraps!
Hi Bruce. It looks like you have an early 17th century, Yorkshire (wainscot) Chair. Sorry for the delay in responding. I hope you are well, and well done on producing this video which does raise a number of interesting questions, and answers. I have watched your video with great interest. It made me dive into my library of reference books I have here in the workshop. It looks like this style of chair was predominantly made in the Yorkshire region with slight variations depending on the region. Yours very much looks to be original, it's such a shame the owner allowed their pet to cause so much damage, but hindsight is for righteous few. Please, please don't take this to be in any way a critique of your work but this is the way we would have approached it here at Gilboys... I think if this chair had come to our workshop I'm not sure that we would have removed the existing finish, even if it had been over polished/finished by the Victorians. Once you start down this road it is almost impossible just to remove what is perceived to be 'not original or authentic'. And before you know it you reach bare wood, 400 years of finish patination has gone. Splits and cracks in the surface would be investigated but unless they endanger the structural integrity of the chair I would leave them well alone. The split in the leg; I think we would have used a thick mix of scotch/pearl glue with a little added fine sawdust to the mix, brushed it into the joint and used a soft ratchet strap to close the gap, very slowly and very carefully). If the gap was unable to withstand this we may well have glued in a small slice of old oak (using the same glue). Which we then could very easily shape to the profile of the leg. The scratches on the face of the chair look to be from cat claws. Dog chewed wood is normally very destructive whereas cat claws tend to leave deep scars on the surface. Nonetheless this is a tricky repair to get right... Do you cut out the damaged wood, back to a clean, workable surface, and attach a new piece or pieces of old oak? If so, you would have to carefully shape it to match the original, and carefully finish to match the original surrounding finish. But this method also means you are taking history away from the chair, not to say, removing period 400 year old wood. My approach would be to leave the scratches as they are and yes fill them with an easily removable method of repair, such as solid beeswax. This means that you are preserving what remains, also it is much easier to colour and finish using traditional materials and techniques of colouring employed by a french polisher / antique restorer. This method also means; in the future years the beeswax repair could be easily undone without damage and the more seriously involved repair, I previously mentioned, could be carried out. The loose seat I would reattach but not by removing any of the old repairs, I would leave them there. The risk of damage I feel may be greater than the intention. I would secure the seat by using (old wood) glue blocks that could be glued to the seat and rail on the underside. This would mean the seat is secured and you haven't disturbed any of the patinated finish on the seat. It also means the glue blocks can easily be removed at a later date without harming the chair in any way. Once I am happy that the conservation repairs are all good I would revive the old finish, using a tried and tested method of applying traditional oil stain over the entire surface and wiping off the excess as you go. This will help clean off the dirt and at the same time help disguise the repairs and blend fresh wounds. I would then wax polish with a dark beeswax polish, not to colour the surface, as this won't be the case, but more to enhance the finish that lies beneath. Restoration, or should I say conservation of period furniture such as this is not really about what the current owner wants, it's about knowing what's right for the chair. Its' financial value may have fallen, but that is now, in the future it may well increase again, and with it the ability for future owners to have more in depth and costly work done. I hope this doesn't read as a criticism, it's not the intention. I also understand that in most cases you need to be in the physical presence of a piece to understand what it needs. With best wishes Simon
Simon, Thank you so much for taking the time and patience to reply in detail. Incredibly helpful! I finished the restoration/conservation earlier in the week, and am relieved that for much of what you have advised, I drew similar conclusions and direction. The owner is collecting tomorrow, and I am working on the UA-cam video, hopefully out in the next day or so!
You might want to contact Thomas Johnson Antique Furniture Restoration. He has a channel on youtube. He has done several videos dealing with chew damage, and also on antiques of this age. He's been working on antiques for 50 years. I'm sure he'd give you advice.
I have huge respect for Thomas Johnson and subscribe to his excellent youtube channel. He has a great dog too! I could not find any videos on jacobean furniture restoration except on his channel. I will email! Thanks.
Hi Bruce you have an early 17th century chair possibly english jacobean but the carving of the rose on the back panal should have 5 petals which leads me for it to be French . Constructed of english or french oak with ebony and Holly parquetry . do not over restore just clean off the dirt and old polish . use traditional Hide Glue to infill the large cracks . Its water based and the excess glue can easily be cleaned off with a damp cloth . It would be just jointed with oak pegs ( dowels and glue . ) The nails are a later repair . The repaired legs are a feature to its age as the chair would be on stone wet floors common in jacobean times . By all means use bees wax to address the scratches and before hand i would give the chair a coat of linseed oil to nourish the wood as the cracks are caused by the wood drying out . Hope my tips are usefull to you . To get some idea of jackobean furniture from the Tudor era There is an abandoned timber framed manor house in england on You Tube . If you search for Tutt hill manor it will give you some inspiration on the finish to apply to the chair . A nice find .
Thank you for the detailed comment! I think I followed much of what you suggest - see the results here: ua-cam.com/video/1xsCDux-1sY/v-deo.html I would be interested in your thoughts on how it went
Bruce, what an intriguing piece. This is definitely far outside my area of expertise, but I was wondering if dendrochronology or other microscopic analysis could possibly help date the chair. I agree with the other members of the community that I will be looking forward to how this project turns out. And, I have no doubt it will look great when you are finished. Thanks for sharing your thought process with us.
Hi Elaine - thank you. From a number of sources we've narrowed down the date to 17th century, likely 1660 to 1680 from Yorkshire in England. Love the idea of some other technology for getting to a date! I'm working on the part 2 video and will hopefully post in the next day or so!
Hello Bruce! Very, very interesting furniture. I can't help you with age and origin - that's not my era and it's not my country either. But I do have one advice: If the chair is authentic, then there's a good chance that heraldic symbols were used in the carving of the backrest. This red-black symbol at the top, in the most prominent place, can lead further, possibly the flower in the middle with the palmette-like runner upwards could also be interesting. Could be a good idea, to look up a list of Scottish aristocratic coats of arms to see if such symbols appear there. With a bit of luck, you might even be able to assign the chair to a specific family. About the restoration: I would first clean the chair very carefully. The back part was originally colored, and at that time the only possible finish was wax. I would be careful with sanding, Liberon has a wax remover that you can use with steel wool, but on oak I would rather work with sanding pads (maybe the green ones). I would "defuse" the gnawed areas with sandpaper, then level them with stain and apply a wax. Beeswax dissolved in balsamic turpentine with a hardening additive would probably come closest to the original. The marquetry is really quite unusual. I'm very excited to see what's to come... Thanks for showing! Good luck!
Georg - many thanks for the excellent suggestions. Getting a match to a family would be fantastic. Great suggestion on not using wire wool on oak. The finish is a real conundrum. I believe originally, as you say, it would have been painted, probably in bright shades and possibly even guilded. With no guide or picture to work with it would all be guess work and look wrong to our eyes. But it also feels wrong to repeat what the Victorians did and make it all black and dark again ...I'm also excited to see where we end up!
I'd say a light overall cleaning to unclog the wood grain, and then a dark wax with the highlights buffed - the effect should be something which has been touched and used regularly. If the old repair screws are doing their job I'd leave them and just melt shellac over the heads. The repair history is now a part of the piece. The stains on the seat are your call but I;d be cautious- I'd leave them and make up a period style cushion as a cover & to introduce a little color.
Sorry Bruce, no idea about the chair. Just looks like a lot of work. Do like seeing Badger and Toffee not exactly fighting for the Quality Control position! Maybe Lillibee …?
Thanks for the second video in one week but goodness me Bruce, you've got your work cut out for you there. I think that you're right to stay away from modern materials/techniques as much as possible so using the beeswax is a good idea. As in the past I'm sure that you'll do a very sympathetic repair. I would imagine that it will be tricky around the marquetry as if you want to show it off I guess you will have to have to do some work on the rest of the chair colour so that it does not stand out too much (i.e. maintaining that overall aged look)? Sorry that I can't be of more help.
Thanks as always for the quick response, and actually very helpful. I was discussing a bit of this with the owner after they saw the video and I posed the thought that to some extent the wood will dictate the answer eg how much it has been exposed to direct sunlight over the (gulp) centuries. I’m also comforted by the thought that it is always easier to go darker so in the worst case we get back to closer to where we started (uniform tone but dark), however what I’m hoping for is that redder richer oak seen in the auction photographs. Thanks again!
All I can hear is those damn crows in the background. Need to get with your Neighbours. Re: stain. I think darken with Jacobean oak to let the inlay colours pop and show contrast
Hey Bruce, definitely a light clean and polish only. What you’ve done so far is spot on. Any more than this would detract from its age and patina. BTW, was in your village the other week and we went to your beach to see the seals and a beer in the Newburgh Inn.
Lovely part of the world.
Hi Mark - thanks. I'm working on the part 2 video as the restoration/conservation is complete. I've gone a little further than a light clean and polish on the marquetry ...but have not removed stains and history from the rest. Leave you to decide when you've seen the next video! As to Newburgh beach and Britains largerst seal colony - best we keep that our secret? The Udny Arms is under rennovation (I did their front door) and it will be opening in the New Year and should also be an excellent place to stop for a beer also. Again best we keep all of this under wraps!
Amazing, as always buddy.
Cheers Glen!
Hi Bruce.
It looks like you have an early 17th century, Yorkshire (wainscot) Chair.
Sorry for the delay in responding. I hope you are well, and well done on producing this video which does raise a number of interesting questions, and answers.
I have watched your video with great interest. It made me dive into my library of reference books I have here in the workshop.
It looks like this style of chair was predominantly made in the Yorkshire region with slight variations depending on the region.
Yours very much looks to be original, it's such a shame the owner allowed their pet to cause so much damage, but hindsight is for righteous few.
Please, please don't take this to be in any way a critique of your work but this is the way we would have approached it here at Gilboys...
I think if this chair had come to our workshop I'm not sure that we would have removed the existing finish, even if it had been over polished/finished by the Victorians.
Once you start down this road it is almost impossible just to remove what is perceived to be 'not original or authentic'.
And before you know it you reach bare wood, 400 years of finish patination has gone.
Splits and cracks in the surface would be investigated but unless they endanger the structural integrity of the chair I would leave them well alone.
The split in the leg; I think we would have used a thick mix of scotch/pearl glue with a little added fine sawdust to the mix, brushed it into the joint and used a soft ratchet strap to close the gap, very slowly and very carefully). If the gap was unable to withstand this we may well have glued in a small slice of old oak (using the same glue). Which we then could very easily shape to the profile of the leg.
The scratches on the face of the chair look to be from cat claws. Dog chewed wood is normally very destructive whereas cat claws tend to leave deep scars on the surface. Nonetheless this is a tricky repair to get right...
Do you cut out the damaged wood, back to a clean, workable surface, and attach a new piece or pieces of old oak? If so, you would have to carefully shape it to match the original, and carefully finish to match the original surrounding finish. But this method also means you are taking history away from the chair, not to say, removing period 400 year old wood.
My approach would be to leave the scratches as they are and yes fill them with an easily removable method of repair, such as solid beeswax. This means that you are preserving what remains, also it is much easier to colour and finish using traditional materials and techniques of colouring employed by a french polisher / antique restorer. This method also means; in the future years the beeswax repair could be easily undone without damage and the more seriously involved repair, I previously mentioned, could be carried out.
The loose seat I would reattach but not by removing any of the old repairs, I would leave them there. The risk of damage I feel may be greater than the intention.
I would secure the seat by using (old wood) glue blocks that could be glued to the seat and rail on the underside. This would mean the seat is secured and you haven't disturbed any of the patinated finish on the seat.
It also means the glue blocks can easily be removed at a later date without harming the chair in any way.
Once I am happy that the conservation repairs are all good I would revive the old finish, using a tried and tested method of applying traditional oil stain over the entire surface and wiping off the excess as you go. This will help clean off the dirt and at the same time help disguise the repairs and blend fresh wounds.
I would then wax polish with a dark beeswax polish, not to colour the surface, as this won't be the case, but more to enhance the finish that lies beneath.
Restoration, or should I say conservation of period furniture such as this is not really about what the current owner wants, it's about knowing what's right for the chair.
Its' financial value may have fallen, but that is now, in the future it may well increase again, and with it the ability for future owners to have more in depth and costly work done.
I hope this doesn't read as a criticism, it's not the intention. I also understand that in most cases you need to be in the physical presence of a piece to understand what it needs.
With best wishes
Simon
Simon,
Thank you so much for taking the time and patience to reply in detail. Incredibly helpful!
I finished the restoration/conservation earlier in the week, and am relieved that for much of what you have advised, I drew similar conclusions and direction. The owner is collecting tomorrow, and I am working on the UA-cam video, hopefully out in the next day or so!
You might want to contact Thomas Johnson Antique Furniture Restoration. He has a channel on youtube. He has done several videos dealing with chew damage, and also on antiques of this age. He's been working on antiques for 50 years. I'm sure he'd give you advice.
I have huge respect for Thomas Johnson and subscribe to his excellent youtube channel. He has a great dog too! I could not find any videos on jacobean furniture restoration except on his channel. I will email! Thanks.
❤
Hi Bruce you have an early 17th century chair possibly english jacobean but the carving of the rose on the back panal should have 5 petals which leads me for it to be French . Constructed of english or french oak with ebony and Holly parquetry . do not over restore just clean off the dirt and old polish . use traditional Hide Glue to infill the large cracks . Its water based and the excess glue can easily be cleaned off with a damp cloth . It would be just jointed with oak pegs ( dowels and glue . ) The nails are a later repair . The repaired legs are a feature to its age as the chair would be on stone wet floors common in jacobean times . By all means use bees wax to address the scratches and before hand i would give the chair a coat of linseed oil to nourish the wood as the cracks are caused by the wood drying out . Hope my tips are usefull to you . To get some idea of jackobean furniture from the Tudor era There is an abandoned timber framed manor house in england on You Tube . If you search for Tutt hill manor it will give you some inspiration on the finish to apply to the chair . A nice find .
Thank you for the detailed comment! I think I followed much of what you suggest - see the results here: ua-cam.com/video/1xsCDux-1sY/v-deo.html
I would be interested in your thoughts on how it went
@@TheCottackWorkshop Thankyou for your reply , You made a great restoration , and a chair worth saving . 👍
Bruce, what an intriguing piece. This is definitely far outside my area of expertise, but I was wondering if dendrochronology or other microscopic analysis could possibly help date the chair. I agree with the other members of the community that I will be looking forward to how this project turns out. And, I have no doubt it will look great when you are finished. Thanks for sharing your thought process with us.
Hi Elaine - thank you. From a number of sources we've narrowed down the date to 17th century, likely 1660 to 1680 from Yorkshire in England. Love the idea of some other technology for getting to a date! I'm working on the part 2 video and will hopefully post in the next day or so!
Hello Bruce! Very, very interesting furniture.
I can't help you with age and origin - that's not my era and it's not my country either. But I do have one advice: If the chair is authentic, then there's a good chance that heraldic symbols were used in the carving of the backrest. This red-black symbol at the top, in the most prominent place, can lead further, possibly the flower in the middle with the palmette-like runner upwards could also be interesting. Could be a good idea, to look up a list of Scottish aristocratic coats of arms to see if such symbols appear there. With a bit of luck, you might even be able to assign the chair to a specific family.
About the restoration: I would first clean the chair very carefully. The back part was originally colored, and at that time the only possible finish was wax. I would be careful with sanding, Liberon has a wax remover that you can use with steel wool, but on oak I would rather work with sanding pads (maybe the green ones).
I would "defuse" the gnawed areas with sandpaper, then level them with stain and apply a wax. Beeswax dissolved in balsamic turpentine with a hardening additive would probably come closest to the original.
The marquetry is really quite unusual. I'm very excited to see what's to come...
Thanks for showing! Good luck!
Georg - many thanks for the excellent suggestions. Getting a match to a family would be fantastic. Great suggestion on not using wire wool on oak. The finish is a real conundrum. I believe originally, as you say, it would have been painted, probably in bright shades and possibly even guilded. With no guide or picture to work with it would all be guess work and look wrong to our eyes. But it also feels wrong to repeat what the Victorians did and make it all black and dark again ...I'm also excited to see where we end up!
I'd say a light overall cleaning to unclog the wood grain, and then a dark wax with the highlights buffed - the effect should be something which has been touched and used regularly. If the old repair screws are doing their job I'd leave them and just melt shellac over the heads. The repair history is now a part of the piece. The stains on the seat are your call but I;d be cautious- I'd leave them and make up a period style cushion as a cover & to introduce a little color.
Many thanks - sound advice all round! Much appreciated
Quality control 😅😅😅
Sorry Bruce, no idea about the chair. Just looks like a lot of work. Do like seeing Badger and Toffee not exactly fighting for the Quality Control position! Maybe Lillibee …?
Thanks Joan! Toffee is Top Cat and it is just not safe to suggest anything otherwise. The job is hers ...if she chooses to turn up!!
Thanks for the second video in one week but goodness me Bruce, you've got your work cut out for you there. I think that you're right to stay away from modern materials/techniques as much as possible so using the beeswax is a good idea. As in the past I'm sure that you'll do a very sympathetic repair. I would imagine that it will be tricky around the marquetry as if you want to show it off I guess you will have to have to do some work on the rest of the chair colour so that it does not stand out too much (i.e. maintaining that overall aged look)? Sorry that I can't be of more help.
Thanks as always for the quick response, and actually very helpful. I was discussing a bit of this with the owner after they saw the video and I posed the thought that to some extent the wood will dictate the answer eg how much it has been exposed to direct sunlight over the (gulp) centuries. I’m also comforted by the thought that it is always easier to go darker so in the worst case we get back to closer to where we started (uniform tone but dark), however what I’m hoping for is that redder richer oak seen in the auction photographs. Thanks again!
Norse time?
All I can hear is those damn crows in the background. Need to get with your Neighbours.
Re: stain. I think darken with Jacobean oak to let the inlay colours pop and show contrast
Ha! I'd never complain about my excellent neighbours at Shanghai House Trading: www.shanghaihousetrading.co.uk