Restoration. Conservation. Creation
Here is a table in pure Art Deco style. It is veneered with Macassar ebony and the legs are mahogany. This table was probably created around the 1920s. Indeed, Louis Majorelle is best known as one of the great cabinetmakers of the Art Nouveau style, but it is too often forgotten that he was one of the forerunners of the Art Deco style, this table being a perfect example. In terms of restoration, as always, the veneer requires the most work; there […]
A month ago, a lovely transitional commode arrived, which reminds me of the work of the cabinetmaker Charles Topino (circa 1742-1803) – he received his master craftsman's certificate on July 4, 1773. However, this commode does not bear his stamp, nor any stamp for that matter. This confirms that a stamp is not necessary to possess a piece of high-quality furniture. Furthermore, the marquetry could very well have come from Topino's workshop, as he sold panels of his marquetry to the haberdashers and his colleagues […]
Remember that slant-front desk? Well, it's finished. It was quite a task, but now it's regained its former glory. Only the drawer keyholes and the leather upholstery remain to be fitted before it's returned to its owner. A large part of the legs has been remade from sawn violet wood. This was cut to the correct thickness, scraped and sanded, then oxidized before being glued, so as not to have to sand the entire piece of furniture […]
A classic restoration for this type of furniture. The legs are slightly damaged, the varnish has yellowed and dulled. A few rosewood grafts, cleaning, stripping, and a beautiful French polish will be enough to give it a new lease on life. Not forgetting the cleaning of the bronze mounts.
Thanks to its stamp, it is possible to date this slant-front desk, or cantilevered desk, between 1738 and 1783. The life of Jean-Baptiste Hedouin is relatively unknown. After becoming a master craftsman, he set up his workshop on Rue Traversière-Saint-Antoine. All the furniture he produced was of high quality. His pieces, primarily in the Regency and Louis XV styles, almost all veneered in sheets or with grid patterns, were varied: wardrobes, flat and slant-front desks, bookcases… but it was the commodes that constituted the largest part of his output.
Here is a corner cabinet stamped by Jean-Mathieu Chevallier. It is made of solid oak and veneered with rosewood and violet wood with a boxwood inlay. Jean-Mathieu Chevallier was already established on the rue de Grenelle under the sign "à la Croix Chevallier" when he obtained his master craftsman's certificate in 1743. He subsequently expanded his business considerably, had business dealings with André-Charles Boulle, one of the sons of the famous cabinetmaker, and contributed to furnishing the Hôtel du Duc de Talmont, as well as the Château de Villegénis, which he had purchased […]
This week, a small Louis XVI style games table left the workshop. As you'll see, there wasn't much work to be done. It just goes to show that a simple cleaning, revarnishing, and a fresh coat of leather can breathe new life into a rather dull piece of furniture.
This week, two pieces of furniture left the workshop: a Napoleon III jardinière in rosewood veneer and a Louis XVI chiffonier in rosewood and violet wood veneer. If this piece had seven drawers, it would have been called a "semainier" (weekly chest of drawers). Here are some photos of their restoration.
Restoration of a Louis XV period commode stamped JC Ellaume. This commode is veneered in rosewood and palisander with floral marquetry on the drawer fronts. The frame is made of oak and softwood. Jean-Charles Ellaume, also sometimes written as Allaume, received his master craftsmanship in Paris on November 6, 1754. Many pieces of furniture bearing his stamp are known. These are mostly Louis XV commodes. It was in his workshop on Rue Traversière that he produced numerous high-quality pieces of furniture for over thirty years, […]
This week, we're revisiting the restoration of a Louis XIV period commode, a commode known as a Mazarine commode. But where does the name "Mazarine" come from? Well, it seems that the first example was made for the famous Mazarine Library, quite simply. Moreover, the illustrious creator of the commode was none other than André Charles Boulle himself. For Louis XIV's bedroom at Trianon, he revolutionized a type of furniture in 1708: the commode, which takes its name from its "practical" aspect compared to the chests that were widely used at the time. Today, we're presenting […]
After a few hours of cutting, gluing, re-gluing, and cleaning the surfaces, we finally reach the finishing stage. For this cartel clock, we chose to French polish it because it's a finish that highlights the marquetry, protects it, and is easily reversible (like all my work). I always use a clear shellac varnish, whether on wood or other materials. The varnishing process is difficult to explain; it simply takes hours and hours […]
Once the various structural elements were glued back together, I tackled the tortoiseshell and brass marquetry. As you'll see, on this clock it's in very, very bad condition; practically nothing is holding. So, all the brass has to be removed. The tortoiseshell, however, is holding well; it's only partially detached. The first step in restoring this marquetry is therefore to remove and set aside each brass element. The second is to clean off the old glue, […]
Here is my first client, patient… well, whatever you want to call him. It's a Boulle marquetry cartel clock in brown tortoiseshell, ebony, and brass. As you can see in the following photos, it's not in very good condition. There are many missing brass pieces, and the remaining brass is peeling off everywhere. At first glance, it's always difficult to precisely date a Boulle cartel clock: this one doesn't have a maker's mark. However, it does have corkscrew screws (typical of the 18th century […]
Here's a short but very informative video on polishing. This finishing method was applied to the tool cabinet. https://ebenisterie-mathieuvath.fr/2019/02/19/armoire-a-outils/
Here are some images of the creation of the birds that make up the marquetry on the lower doors.
I indulged myself with this marquetry project; I had always wanted to recreate this famous marquetry fresco. This allowed me to revisit David Roentgen's "mosaic marquetry" technique. I created a pack with a hornbeam leaf, a sycamore maple leaf, and a pear leaf to make the figures, as pear wood is the best for reproducing skin tones. To tint the background, I dipped it in different baths to produce this effect of […]
The idea behind this tool cabinet was to explore and implement the various projects I was researching. One of these ideas was to tackle the marquetry technique of a famous 18th-century cabinetmaker, David Roentgen. This technique, known as "mosaic marquetry," involves cutting a single sheet of veneer using a conical saw and then coloring it by dipping each piece in a pre-defined dye. However, there were two problems to overcome: Conical sawing, which is difficult to […]
