"Period Furniture Conservation really takes the time to get to know my clients' collections."
— Patrick Cooney, President, Connoisseur's Advisory Group
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Period Furniture Conservation can help you keep the furniture and wooden objects in your care stable, historically faithful and esthetically presentable, whether you own them or have curatorial responsibility for them. There are several things we can do. Here's a sampling by service category: |
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| Preventive Conservation and Collection Management |
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| Assessment, Valuation and Testing |
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| Finishes The coating on any object impacts how we perceive it. An anachronistic tinted varnish, for example, may cover up inappropriate restorations or give a piece of furniture a luster it was never intended to have. We perform scientific testing of the coating surfaces, including UV surface surveys, solvent solubility and cross-section analysis. We help our clients remove these deleterious additions when possible, and introduce a coating with similar optical or textural qualities as the original finish. Our expertise includes: |
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| — | Oil and spirit varnishes, French polishing, wax polishing: These historically important coatings and methods of application were used for centuries to protect the surface of wooden objects in Europe and the Americas. We recreate these finishes — or rescue the underlying remnants of them. |
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| — | Oriental Lacquer: urushi lacquer has been used as a coating on furniture and wooden objects in Japan, China and the Southeast Asia since the Neolithic period. It is derived from the sap of the Rhus genus, the same genus that also includes sumac and poison ivy. This coating is among the most difficult to work with, and the resin is toxic to most individuals. It is typically not understood by many "restorers." We possess the expertise to identify it, we know its properties, and how to treat what is missing or degraded. |
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| — | European Lacquer: One common term for this lacquer is Japanning. Unlike urushi lacquer, it is typically composed of a mixture of various resins. This is a unique category of coatings, representing the attempts of European craftsmen to imitate Oriental lacquer. Furniture objects with this coating are highly prized by collectors. Many surfaces incorporate gilding and silvering as well. We consider the treatment of these objects a particular strength of our firm. |
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| — | Polychromy: Over the centuries, painted designs, whether figurative, floral or geometric, have formed an important part of furniture and wooden object decoration. When the original surface is damaged, we can recreate a surface with similar visual properties. |
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| Gilding |
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| Woodcraft |
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| Frames |
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| Environmental Design |
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| Insurance Claims, Emergency Response and Disaster Recovery |
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Call us for a consultation at 212.255.7426. |
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P. 212.255.7426 F. 212.255.1775