Restoring and Repairing Antique and Fine Furniture is available from the publisher Crowood Press Alternatively you will find it at most online booksellers and high street bookshops. For a signed and dedicated copy, please order here.
This book grew out of many years of practical experience and a growing awareness of the way authenticity can be easily lost from antique furniture, through well-intentioned, but overzealous and often unnecessary intervention. Here the book stresses the need for thoughtful decision-making that is informed by history, materials, and context, guiding the restorer to approach each piece with care, respect, and above all understanding.
Much has been written in the past, about the practical repair of antique furniture, particularly the importance of structural integrity and sound joints This book also includes a dedicated chapter on these essential skills, while its focus broadens out into a field of understanding essential to the restorer. Exploring those less obvious considerations and elements of trade practice that are rarely discussed in print.
Building on this wider perspective, the book asks what criteria actually qualifies a piece of furniture as antique, before considering how one goes about recognising the genuine article among lesser examples, or copies. The author then examines where and how to acquire authentic pieces that are suitable for restoration including how to estimate the amount, and feasibility of work required. It is only through careful appraisal that one can determine the kind of intervention that may be appropriate, and whether it falls within one’s current skill set, or those new skills which may be developed through the guidance found in this book.
Once a piece has been assessed structurally and its authenticity confirmed, attention naturally turns to the surface. Finishes often hold clues to the piece’s history, and they are frequently the most vulnerable element. This book examines how to identify and evaluate existing finishes, deciding whether they can be preserved, and, if not, how best to proceed while maintaining respect for the furniture’s character and history.
Techniques are presented within a conservation-minded framework, so that the reader not only learns how a task is carried out, but also why a particular approach is preferred. The book includes a dedicated chapter on preparing in-house restoration products, allowing the restorer to maintain full control over materials and outcomes, so that every step can be undertaken with certainty, avoiding the unpredictability inherent in many commercially prepared products.
A basic level of woodworking or cabinetmaking experience is assumed. Although this is not intended to exclude those at an earlier stage in their career, simply to acknowledge that antiques are rarely the best environment in which to practice and develop fundamental skills. Developing these skills elsewhere, while undertaking the smaller interventions described, will ultimately allow the reader to approach historic furniture conservation with greater skill, confidence, and professionalism.
Restoring and Repairing Antique and Fine Furniture is written for those who wish to move beyond routine repairs and cosmetic treatments, and towards a more thoughtful and professional practice. Whether this is for oneself, or as a career.
