Restoration | Kenta Takeshige

Furniture: Tea Cabinet "Cha dansu" from Hiroshima

Material: Japanese Chestnut, Princess Tree, Ebony / Veneer: Japanese Ash in Blister Figure

Furniture: Church Bench

Material: Oak
Size: W 2480 x D 300 x H 880 mm

This bench comes from a church Saint-Pierre in Sainlez, a village in southern Wallonia. I found a chewing gum stuck to the back of the backrest, a funny discovery awakening my imagination.

At the center of the seat a part had been cut out. I filled the space with new wooden pieces and reinforced from beneath. I made new ‘shoes’ (mortise) on the legs (tenon). It was the customer’s wish to maintain the contrast between old and new, so I left the new wood its natural color.

Furniture: Cabinet "Mizuya dansu"

Material: Black Persimmon, Japanese Zelkova, Japanese Cypress, Cedar, Ebony
Size: W 1200 x D 460 x H 1690 mm
Period: Meiji
Remarks: Traditional Japanese kitchen cabinet in 2 pieces, rare Black Persimmon in Mesh Figure and Japanese Zelkova in Blister Figure

The body is in straight-grained Hinoki cypress and rare, precious wood is used for the door- and drawer- fronts. Ebony is inserted in the bottom rail, preventing deterioration on behalf of the sliding door. The cabinet is designed to be disassembled without difficulty, I wonder if the maker had future restoration in mind? Anyway, the structure is a good example of fine furniture making.

I reinforced the inside so the top board can carry a heavy load and filled the cracks in each panel with new wood pieces. The parts that were worm-eaten were treated with products, layers beyond repair were removed and replacements were attached in these places. After disassembling the loose frames, I reinforced the tenons to create the tight joints and reassembled again. An additional shelf was made for increase of function. Sunburn and dirt were removed, and the surface was Shiraki finished, this means without any painting.

Furniture: Louis-Philippe style Commode

Material: Pine, Oak / Veneer: Mahogany, Oak

The wood grain on the front of this cabinet has a book matching. The wooden base is made of pine. The cabinet is veneered on the outside in mahogany and on the inside in oak. It has a solid back made of oak.

Before the restoration, there were splits everywhere on the doors along the simple base frame. Other splits on the top and side panels were caused by splits of the pine base. The cabinet had no solidity and it had been nailed from the top to keep the construction together. There were some traces of past restorations.

During the restoration, I removed the old polishing layers and totally dismantled the cabinet. I peeled off the multiplex on the inside of the side panels that were applied to stop the splitting of the wood and I reinforced the side panel frames against further splitting. I repaired broken joints and legs, and reassembled the construction. I dismantled the drawer and replaced parts of the bottom of the drawer sides which was needed because of wear-and-tear of bottom-run. I reassembled the drawer and adjusted the function by shaving the wood and installing drawer kickers. I fixated the cabinet top on the body while paying attention for the capability of wood movement. I peeled off the veneer partially in order to reinforce the base frames of the doors. I replaced missing veneer and moulding, made sure everything fitted perfectly. I filled splits with solid mahogany, modified the colour of new wood and applied French polishing.