Symposium on wood and furniture conservation

"Reproduction and Reconstruction in Furniture Conservation"
11th International Symposium on Wood and Furniture Conservation
Amsterdam, The Netherlands
9-10 November 2012

Organized by Stichting Ebenist

This is a two day symposium with a full programme of talks on
aspects of reproduction and Reconstruction in Furniture
Conservation. The following lectures will be presented:

    "Reconstructing Princess Amalia van Solm's Japanese lacquer
    bed-rail"

    Anthony Wells-Cole
    Former Senior Curator, Temple Newsam House, Leeds, United
    Kingdom

        An introduction to the commission, delivery and history of
        the celebrated bed-rail installed by Amalia van Solms in her
        summer retreat, Huis ten Bosch near The Hague in 1647. The
        bed-rail, which spanned her bed-chamber from side to side,
        elicited poetic descriptions from visitors in the 17th and
        18th centuries, and survived until the 1790s when The
        Netherlands were over-run by French troops. The author
        proposes a virtual reconstruction, and examines the skills
        that would be required from curator and conservator to make
        an actual reconstruction of one section, using European
        materials.

    "Being comfortable in the bed one has made"

    Ian Fraser
    Conservator, Leeds Museums and Galleries, Temple Newsam House,
    Leeds, West Yorkshire, United Kingdom

        The early 18th century Queen Anne state bed was acquired, in
        a very dilapidated state, for display at Temple Newsam
        House. As it turned out, it had been converted in the early
        19th century to a four-poster bed. After much research and
        preparation it was restored to its original appearance of an
        "angel" or suspended tester bed by the author.

    "An 18th century writing desk; reconstructing its marquetry top"

    Pol Bruys
    Conservator, Bruys and Streep restauratie, Haarlem, The
    Netherlands

        This lecture describes the process of reconstruction of the
        lost geometrical marquetry on the top of an 18th century
        writing desk. From identifying the correct design of the
        pattern, to purchasing the correct materials, it then deals
        with the sequence of laying the different patterns and the
        choice of matching colours and finish.

        It concludes with the ethical issues of the treatment.

    "Touch me!"

    Ralf Buchholz
    Diplom-Restaurator
    Wiss. Mitarbeiter, Werkstattleitung Mobel und Holzobjekte

    Annika Sander
    Conservation student

    Karen Riemann
    Conservation student HAWK, Hochschule fur Angewandte
    Wissenschaft und Kunst, Fakultat Erhaltung von Kulturgut
    Hildesheim, Germany

        Based on an original design, a life-size copy of a
        Braunschweig baroque wardrobe door was build by students of
        the Hildesheim Conservation School (HAWK). The door will be
        used in an educational setting at the Stadtische Museum
        Braunschweig. The presentation will focus on the historic
        woodworking techniques that had to be mastered for the
        reconstruction, and the unique learning opportunity for
        those involved.

    "An Analysis of Copies of French Royal Furniture by Francois
    Linke"

    Christopher Payne
    Honorary Website Editor of the Furniture History Society;
    ex-Chairman of the Regional Furniture Museum Trust, United
    Kingdom

        This paper is intended to give a detailed view of a selected
        group of copies of French 18th century royal furniture made
        by Francois Linke (Pankraz 1855 - Paris 1946). The paper
        analyses the wages paid for selected skills and the time
        involved for the various disciplines concentrating on the
        cabinet makers, bronze casting, chasing, mounting and
        gilding costs. It will conclude with the 're-learning' of
        these skills by furniture conservator Yannick Chastang in
        the copying of Linke's unfinished bureau du Roi of 1940.

    "Presentation of a project: Making copies of empire chairs"

    Anne-Catherine Hagen
    Master cabinetmaker and furniture restorer
    Co-owner of Mobelverkstedet Restaurering as, Oslo, Norway

        A prestigious large scale commission to reproduce empire
        style chairs to match a historically important set formed
        the starting point for research in its original
        manufacturing techniques. In this context, the issue of
        machine produced versus handmade will be addressed. Also,
        the unavailability of mahogany and the choice of a surface
        treatment for the replacement wood will be discussed.

    "The Importance of Reproduction in Two Centuries of French
    Furniture: case studies from the Wallace Collection"

    Helen Jacobsen
    Curator of French 18th-century Decorative Arts, The Wallace
    Collection, London, United Kingdom

        Furniture reproduction raises all kinds of responses amongst
        collectors, dealers and restorers--most of them negative.
        But these contemporary attitudes would have been
        incomprehensible in the eighteenth or even much of the
        nineteenth century. This will be illustrated by a selection
        of both renown and less famous pieces from the Wallace
        Collection. The intention is to shed light on the changing
        values and attitudes associated with reproduction and to
        demonstrate the key role played by reproductions in the
        history of furniture.

    "Fake or not fake? How alterations can mislead."

    Jurgen Huber
    Senior Furniture Conservator, The Wallace Collection, London,
    United Kingdom

        In a detailed study of a French Regence commode from the
        Wallace Collection it is revealed this piece was heavily
        altered. Its construction was changed and new Boulle
        marquetry was applied, possibly commissioned by the founders
        of the Collection.

    "Replica's and Reproductions and the Frederick Parker Company"

    Dr. John Cross
    Course Leader BSc and MA in Conservation Senior Lecturer

    Cathy O'Donnell
    Conservation Student
    London Metropolitan University, London, United Kingdom

        A large collection of furniture was gathered by F. Parker,
        founder of an important London furniture making firm, to be
        a source of inspiration to his craftsmen.

        The first half of this paper examines to what extent these
        collections influenced and altered the items that they
        manufactured. The second section then concentrates on the
        modern day use of the collection and how digital
        technologies can be used to reproduce conserve and utilise
        the collection as it was originally intended.

    "Ebony furniture: a reconstruction of historical details through
    technical observations"

    Joost Hoving
    Conservator, Hoving and Klusener, Amsterdam

    Dave van Gompel
    Junior Conservator of Furniture, Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, the
    Netherlands

        A long term conservation project treating and studying the
        largest museum collection of ebony furniture in the
        Netherlands brought to light new information on the
        authenticity of several pieces. This talk will deal with the
        wood species, caning, constructions and carving in a
        category of furniture that appears to be altered more often
        than not.

    "Replication by casting"

    Dr. Campbell Norman-Smith
    Course Leader, MA Furniture Conservation and Decorative Arts
    Buckinghamshire New University, High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire,
    United Kingdom

        This paper will look into the techniques that are used for
        the replication of missing ornamentation, such as the
        techniques used to produce one or two part moulds, epoxy
        systems, casting materials, rapid prototyping and
        three-dimensional printing. A series of case studies will
        highlight the techniques and the materials that have been
        used and the ethical decisions that were taken.

    "A story, a piece of furniture to recompose"

    Sylvain Oudry
    Furniture conservator, teacher at Institut National du
    Patrimoine, Paris, France

        The 'epine-paravent' for the house E.1027 at the Cote d'Azur
        by Eileen Gray had been altered by later owners and over the
        years became heavily damaged by neglect and abuse. It was
        considered essential to restore it back to its original
        state of 1929. This meant practically rebuilding the screen
        and reconstruction of several plywood, glass and celluloid
        elements.

    "Reproduction of techniques used by Herman Doomer"

    Iskander Breebaart
    Senior Conservator of Furniture, Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, the
    Netherlands

    Gert van Gerven
    Junior Conservator of Furniture, Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, the
    Netherlands

        This joint paper centres around the wave- flame- or ripple
        mouldings in ebony and baleen that have been associated with
        the Dutch cabinetmaker Herman Doomer. It describes attempts
        to reconstruct these characteristic Baroque decorations,
        based on the study of Doomer furniture in the Rijksmuseum
        Amsterdam, archival records and early patents.

    "Reconstructing the 'Antique Room': A seventeenth century style
    interior"

    Jaap Boonstra
    Furniture Conservator, Amsterdam Museum, the Netherlands

        Historic nineteenth century repair work and reconstructions
        that were identified in the furniture and carpentry of the
        so-called Antique Room in an Amsterdam canal house will be
        presented. Conserving and even replicating these alterations
        turned out to be essential for restoring the character of
        the room.

    Pending lectures:

        Peter Kopp
        Modern techniques meet traditional skills: Reconstruction of
        about 2500m2 wooden wall panelling

        Heinrich Piening
        Rapid prototyping systems as a tool for 3-D-reconstruction,
        copies and replacements

        Xavier Bonnet
        Reconstruction of upholstery: the Salon cerise at the Hotel
        de Beauharnais, Paris

This programme is subject to change. Please check our website for
the latest version.

Friday evening we will be organising an informal dinner, an extra
opportunity to meet and catch up with colleagues from the field.

Registration and payment: If you wish to attend the symposium,
please register via

    <URL:http://www.ebenist.org>

The price for the two-day symposium is Euro 230. This includes
coffee, tea and lunches as well as the proceedings, which will be
sent to you upon publication. For students there is a reduced rate
of Euro 195. Please be prepared to show your student card at the
door. Upon registration you will receive information on the method
of payment. If you would like to join the dinner on Friday evening,
there will be a small additional cost.

The closing date for registration is Friday October 12, 2012.

We hope to see you at the symposium.


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