victorian, our favourite, functionality, elegance, great materials
edwardian, very elegant, often georgian inspired
art deco, transitional antiques, not modern, not antique, but stylish and popular
late victorian, great variety of styles
georgian, antique, elegant, rare
arts & crafts, great materials, simple, stylish
art nouveau, beautiful and romantic
1900s, last period for quality handmade furniture, last antiques
Typical woods of our antique pieces:
mahogany
beech
oak
walnut
rosewood
satinwood
Finishing methods used for restoration:
shellac, hand polished (hardest, but best option to add value to the piece)
wax, polished (easier than shellac, but time consuming and not appropriate for English antiques)
shellac on wax (easier than just plain shellac, more appropriate than just wax, but not the greatest value)
wax on shellac (easy, therefore cheap, reduces value of the piece)
satinated shellac (easier than polished, easy to repolish appropriately, good temp solution, doesn't reduce potential value)
satinated wax (easy even with no experience, but subtracts value even if product for antiques)
NO synthetic materials (they seriously affect the value of antiques and are costly and messy to remove)
NO oils (almost irreversible when absorbed, therefore damaging almost all antiques of any wood)
Please note that the historically correct finish for English antiques dating from the 1700s is French polish with shellac only, rubbed in and on the wood exclusively by hand, no wax, no oils. These would be detrimental to the aesthetics and real value of the piece. However, we can restore and refinish any piece to suit the taste and requirements of our clients, because in the end, what counts is customer satisfaction. We will provide all the advice that we believe is useful, and we will make available all our knowledge, based on decades of experience and studies.
Origin, where we directly select and acquire our antiques:
England
Scotland
Wales
Where the restoration process occurs:
Tuscany, Italy
Destination, where we proudly present our refinished antiques:
Boston, MA, USA
...and next NH, USA
English Late Victorian piano stool with music sheet compartment under seat. With turned handles and legs. No woodworm and no rot. Reupholstered and hand polished with shellac. Note: The finish is called french polish.
