Chair Repairs

The chair we had repaired just before Christmas was the Victorian Captain’s Chair the family had given me last year. It was in need of improved refurbishment, so we placed it in the capable hands of

Andrew Sharp Antiques in Brockenhurst who

repaired and tightened all the loose joints, including putting a new rod in a leg that had been broken in the past, replacing the now desiccated old glue with longer lasting animal glue.

A pair of plugs in the arms were replaced with ones furnished from

oak which matches the grain of the now firm limbs.

Albeit without the recent fierce winds, today’s continuing rain had turned to sleet by the time we arrived at Andrew’s workshop to collect an Art Deco carver chair of which I had broken the back a few years ago, and replace it with another, not broken, but in need of a similar strengthening that he had effected on the desk chair.

Here the craftsman shows his work on the broken chair, including reinforcing the hessian seat with substantial yet invisible wooden blocks, taken, like the plugs mentioned above from

his collection of offcuts enabling him to match the wood used in the original items,

in the case of the carver, being maple, with a bone insert decorating the central rib of the back.

I really enjoy the character of the small room where Andrew and his employee, Jason, work their miracles.

This evening we dined on Jackie’s tasty cottage pie; pure white cauliflower; firm carrots and Brussels sprouts, with which she drank Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2023 and I drank Paarl Shiraz 2023.

59 comments

  5. I like the workshop room, too. I’m imaging how it might smell. You find such wonderful craftspeople.

    My parents had a very large wholesale antique store when I was a child. I’ve never thought of what, if anything, they did about repairs.

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    1. Thanks very much, Chrissy. I think you may mean The Repair Shop. We like both those shows.

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  9. I love that your family are into Christmas gift giving and come up with such perfect ideas. And it’s wonderful to see such beautiful furniture brought back to as-new condition. I have a traymobile and coal scuttle – both Edwardian, I’d say – that I had re-lacquered a while back to what might have been their original colour. Both pieces are English Oak.

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  11. A true craftsman, indeed! A miracle worker! A labor of love! Preserving history! Giving beauty and rejuvenated life to furniture for generations to come! 🙂 I would be honored and surely enjoy watching him work in his shop! 🙂
    (((HUGS))) ❤️❤️

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  20. It is good to have /know contacts like Andrew who is trustworthy and talented. The table in one of the photos, (6th photo) has a very elegant style. Is it a Duncan Phyfe?

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    1. I doubt it, Zakiah, although I is a good one I bought very cheaply because “brown furniture” is no longer popular here, but it might be – I looked him up, because I hasn’t heard of him. Thank you very much.

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    1. Indeed. We feel this as Andrew shows us every detail of the work. Thanks very much, Anne

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  22. I love the fact that you had your beautiful chairs repaired rather than just throwing them away. The captain’s chair is especially beautiful. I’ve never seen one like it…and the other chair is lovely as well. How satisfying to see such a master craftsman doing the repairs. I just had the same experience with an old weathered handmade bench that was mainly eaten away inside. My friend Lach did an amazing job of filling all the eaten-away parts with resin and it is now as solid as if it was constructed of steel. I love such actions in our way-too-disposable system. In Mexico, as in your village, it is still possible to have almost everything fixed..including electrical appliances.

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