Breathing Life Into Old Furniture - Restoration
Meet master carpenter and restorer Umaida Ram. He is managing the restoration of what's probably our single biggest purchase of chests - 142 antique wooden chests we acquired back in February.
We've gained a reputation for specialising in antique chests travel trunks and old boxes and no trip is ever complete without buying a collection of chests. Our chests are delivered all over the UK and Europe. We are fortunate enough to have had our chests and trunks featured in TV dramas and blockbuster feature films and several have been acquired by museums across the world.
When I heard there was a large collection of antique chests from the south of India he did not hesitate to buy the entire lot. Golden teak, considered to be the best teak in the world, was imported into Madras south east India from Burma, via Calcutta, in the 1800s and made into all sorts of boxes: merchant's chests, storage chests and wedding chests by carpenters and cabinet makers in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh.
Umaida's role in the team is the most skilful as he is responsible for repairing the main structure and surfaces of the chests and tightening joints, the other three members of the team prepare and finish the restoration work.
Top tip: when restoring a chest work your way up from the base once it has been strengthened. Biggest challenge when working with an old chest: re-securing hinges to the back of a chest when it has been split by the hinge's screws. This is the same part of restoring Bill our UK restorer said was the most challenging. Both use the same technique of replacing the upper part of the back panel with reclaimed teak before re-securing the hinges.
What happens when you restore a chest:
- clean the chest thoroughly and a precautionary treatment for pests
- rub down the chest with sandpaper
- repair structurally (often replacing panels from the base)
- repair internal compartments
- repair surface damage (broken corners)
- wash and sandpaper again
- add old brass hardware
- wax and polish
