John Polgar writes:
A while back I posted about a chair we put back to original
and the value doubled or more as a result though not enough
for profit for the owner. Oftentimes, restorations cost what
an item may be "worth". They are usually done in those cases
to maintain and hold for family value or future increased value.
In this case, the cost of restoration compared to the increased
valuation made it possible for a large profit if the customer
were to sell. In this case, they don't want to. But in some
cases a client will want to. They figure the cost of restoration
and what they have in it along with what they might get for it
and decide what, if anything, to do on the item.
This table came in real poor shape. The top flat portion had
already been refinished in the past, poorly, and it was in
severe worn stages to boot. The rest of the item had missing
color all over. Client said their Uncle brought it back from
Burma where he was stationed in World War I.
I told them the top would definitely get done again, the rest
I would do a generally clean and lock down the flaking paint
to save what was left. But I would have it appraised first to
get an idea of how to proceed. If it were valued high I would
work it one way, if valued low I would work it another way.
The price would be $400 at least plus $40 for the appraisal.
I had it appraised and it came back $400 - $650 in existing
condition and their recommendation to clean with linseed oil
(hahaha! Like I'm going to follow that recommendation from an
appraiser, we all know what linseed oil does over the years!)
I cleaned all the ornate carvings with Q-tips, alcohol and naphtha.
Other surface cleanings with mild simple green mix, mineral spirits,
alcohol and naphtha. I clean several times for different issues using
different media. I checked each tip as I went and had white drop
cloths underneath. I wanted to make sure I was not flaking off any
paint. There were about 30 pin head size specs that were lost as
a result of the cleanings.
Next, I sealed the entire unit with shellac and double coated the
top trim carvings with shellac. I wanted to tape off the top for
an extended time and didn't want to damage the original finish.
All original finish that was left was kept intact in this manner. Then
I taped the top off and sanded the top almost smooth removing
most of the finish. I think they painted on an old black alkyd
paint. Then I recoated the top with 4 coats of black lacquer,
then shellac, then clear gloss lacquer. At this point it went
into hibernation.
We then went back to work on the top. It just wasn't "right" yet
to my eye. Sanding again we recoated 2 more coats gloss black
lacquer. Removed the tape and plastic and began work below.
The base was worn, kicked, gouged, chipped, scraped etc...
around the bottom edge which was originally black but now
showed wood in a lot of small areas. A black lacquer marker
took care of the "base coat" then black lacquer brushed on with
touchup brush for inpainting these areas.
Using gold gild cream all the petals were painted with dry brush
technique allowing patination of original red base, black and gold
to show through. I didn't want the piece to look like it was
stripped and refinished new. I wanted all its originality and
age to show sans the ugly damage.
The lion's head and other carvings had a metallic copper gold
shade so we mixed some of the gold cram with a copper metallic
patina artists paint and some other metallic powders to achieve
the right shade. Most of the original was worn off on these areas
so we used a combination of dry brush and full brush wiping off
excess with a clean brush to achieve a uniform aged striated
finished look. We allowed the recesses to remain black and let
the original chipped or worn paint to show untouched.
The sides had a recessed framed panel that had some form a
luminescent paint. At first I thought it was just a milk paint and
had planned on inpainting again with some acrylics and powders.
But we couldn't hit the same look. Under magnification I
realized there was some reflective particles in the paint. So we
added some metallic powders and regular powders in a lacquer
base to brush in. We had to use a palette and various shades
of the color to inpaint the missing areas. We left all the original
checked paint in place and inpainted various shades where it
was missing down to the black and feathered in over
surrounding existing paint.
ALL of the above work was done over the top of shellac coats
(except the black top center which was new). We then sealed
it all in shellac again and gave it two coats of gloss lacquer over
all.
IF a purist ever wanted to work down through the layers and
remove all we did they can get down to the shellac barrier coat
and keep 100% original for whatever was left when we started
(not much).
I then had a second appraisal done. New value $2,000-
$4,000! "Fine example of a post-Victorian console table.
Most probably exported from Belgium. The restoration job
is excellent, although purists may protest as to it non-original
condition. Regardless, this is a exceptional piece of furniture."
I fully detailed the restoration process to the appraisal service
and they included "Condition: Good. Professionally restored.
All work done over the top of a shellac coat."
I only charged about $600 for this and should have been a grand.
But as mentioned in older posts, this became a labor of love in
some parts as I was just thrilled to be able to work on it. The
only thing I clean with a Q-tip is my ear! This piece warranted
the extra steps and labor to conserve and protect. At first it
had little real value. With that knowledge I felt comfortable
stripping the top and doing all the restorative work to the rest
of it. I can't hurt a low value! I would have stopped at cleaning,
doing the top, and clear shellac to lock and preserve what is left
if it came in at a high dollar value. It don't need anything in
that case except conserve, stabilize, protect what was left.
I might not have even redone the top if it were high dollar
value without restoration work.
In this case, the value jumped on the low end from $400 to
$2,000 and the high end from $650 initial value to $4,000
post restoration value!
Properly restored antiques are worth more, generally, than those
in ill repair. I document these items to show my customers who
have that Roadshow thought about original and can't do anything
or you destroy its value. This is clearly not the case as most of
us have stated all along and I continue to document in the real
world marketplace.
Photos below & Thanks for looking!
John Polgar
Clearwater, FL
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