Restoration | Kenta Takeshige

Furniture: Colonial Chair

I disassembled the chair, removed old animal glue. I repaired broken joints, and reassembled the construction. I modified the color with wood-dye. I treated and sealed worm-eaten parts, and applied patina wax.

Most chair restorations are to refasten loose joints. Deterioration of animal glue, processes of wood contraction, and the load of human weight are the main causes of loose or broken joints.

The purpose of sealing worm-eaten holes is mainly for the aesthetic aspect and to avoid wood dust coming out.

Furniture: Japanese Meiji period Cabinet “Choba dansu”

Material: Japanese Cypress, Japanese Zelkova

This cabinet had been well kept by a family in old farmhouse in Gifu prefecture. There is an inked date of manufacturing on the bottom of a drawer.

I dismantled the body as much as I needed, cleaned parts, replaced the worm-eaten base with new pieces, added missing parts, and rebuilt the construction. For the finishing layer I used beeswax.

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