Every piece of antique or period furniture is unique.  It is unique by the fact that it has survived the test of time, gathered it’s own history and has the scars to show for it.  Each restoration has it’s own individual set of problems and a “one size fit’s all” approach simply can not work.  We have seen restorations we admire and we have seen restorations that just make you wonder.   Restoration is a trade, though in many cases the specialist can not show a certificate from a recognised learning institution.  In many cases, when you ask the question – Where did you learn to do that?  The reply may well be one of these ….. “ the old chap next door”, “just watching dad” or “my Pop showed me” sometimes “just trial and error”.

Researching old techniques and gaining access to visual materials of photographs and sketches, is time consuming however, finding original material is invaluable.  The original bed artisans knew what they were doing, and that any restoration should respect their knowledge and the machinery available at the time.  We also believe that the bed’s personality reflects through its scars and that the collectors and enthusiasts should cherish their distinguishing features.  Some restorations no matter how bad they seem, deserve that second chance in life.  How many times The bed featured in this article was brought to us from a town called Charleville in Queensland. The owners had managed to piece it together and emailed us a photo – “Can it be done and can it be extended to Queen size”. The frame in general was in reasonable condition the bends were to be expected, the brass was bent and dented, the main feature that was missing was the ornate Mother of Pearl inlay work, the only piece found had fallen off into the base of the centre medallion, it was a diamond shape, which gave us our first clue. We replied – Yes – to both questions. The bed arrived for restoration shortly after. On the original bed Mother of Pearl was cut and glued onto the square tubing and also the centre medallion. Unlike the steel frame of the bed, the glue had long gave way and with it the small pieces of Mother of Pearl attached to it. In one case, we know of, a lady fondly remembers chipping the jigsaw off the old bed in the shed. She admitted this after bringing that same bed to us asking if we could replace the Mother of Pearl, this was to be the first of many Mother of Pearl restorations we did including a set of French opera glasses. This is one material which is not readily worked with today, and Mark taught himself how to cut, polish and replace the mother of pearl pieces, which are usually a diamond shape 25mm x 25mm with the thickness of a fingernail. Mother of Pearl restoration is time consuming, but the end results are worthy of the time, sweat and expense. In our opinion there are no modern beds that equal their grandeur or their beauty. Sourcing the pearl shell is an adventure in itself, the shells need to be large enough to have a natural flat surface, and the colours may need to match or blend into any existing or original pieces still on the bed. It is only through working with the originals we learnt that some had dyes placed behind to reflect through the thin layer of mother of pearl shell, to date we have found the dye colours of red and blue. We have even found that some New Zealand paua shell has also been used those not as common. It was two years after completing this restoration, that we came across a mail order catalogue from F. Tritton Limited, with an exact sketch of that bed, described as “Double bedstead, 2in foot pillars, The latest bow front foot rail, Mother of Pearl centre, and 7 Mother of Pearl spindles, 2 fancy scrolls, patent running castors” Cost £10/10/-. Finding this long after we had completed the restoration, gave us a wonderful sense of self satisfaction that our original detective research proved to be validated by this catalogue. As part of our service to our clients, where possible we supply them with a copy of how their bed appeared in the original catalogue, in this particular case it followed two years later. So when someone tells you, that it can “Never be done”, and before you throw it out or give it away, take a photo and email us, we are always up for a new challenge. To date we have conquered all the challenges our beds have thrown our way, though we admit there has been a lot of head scratching sessions and time spent in research. The only time to date, that we have hesitated, is when the restoration has exceeded the market value, though in sentimental cases this rule does not generally apply.