French Polish

If requested I can apply a modern polyurethane finish but generally I would use French polish. It's more time consuming to apply and not as durable as the polyurethane but it provides a beautiful authentic finish that really brings the grain to life.

Faux Marble

American mantle clocks of the late 19th century were often adorned with little columns that were painted to look like marble. With age this will often fade and crack. Sometimes it can be restored with careful cleaning and treatment but if necessary I will faithfully reproduce (and even improve upon!) this finish. This is a summary of the technique I use:

1. Prepare the piece for paint and apply a background colour.
2. Float small quantities of oil based paints on a water-based substrate in an open dish. Choose the colours to match the original.
3. "Pick up" the colours by touching the piece to the surface and lay aside to dry.
4. Finish with a light coat of shellac to soften the colours.
5. Cut and polish.

Electro-plating

Many cases have metal parts such as feet, handles, finials, and decorative scrolls and rosettes or icons. These were often made of a copper or brass plated lead alloy called "spewter metal". With age the plating will deteriorate or even disappear completely. Depending on the level of deterioration, and the look you want to achieve, I can restore these pieces with careful cleaning, polishing and/or electroplating. With an antique it is important not to over restore, so I take the "less-is-more" approach by leaving a certain amount of verdigris and not applying too much brightness.

Black Lacquer

I restore black lacquered clocks with several coats of acrylic lacquer spray and finish with a meticulous cut and polish. The finished result is identical in appearance to the original.