RESTORATION OF WOODEN ORNAMENTS | RECONSTRUCTION OF CARVED ORNAMENTAL DETAIL | Restauration Listed Buildings

Restoration workshop, Patrick Damiaens

Patrick Damiaens

RESTORATION and RECONSTRUCTION of WOODCARVINGS and ORNAMENTS.

Restoring church furniture, panelling, pulpits, confessionals, ... is often necessary for the preservation of our patrimony.

It is our duty to preserve this furniture, some of which is hundreds of years old, for future generations. 

Sometimes fragments of the sculpture are missing or the woodcarving is damaged in such a way that the need arises to replace it. If the broken-off fragments of the woodcarving were preserved, we are able to reattach these in an appropriate manner. If the ornaments are missing completely, we will take into consideration the shape of the ornament or of the remnants, if any are still present. 

For the more complex cases (this often involves sculptures) a plasticine model is created to visually aid the woodcarver during his work.

After thorough research of the remaining woodcarving, its style, character and the plane of fracture we are able to form a clear image of the ornament and the way it originally looked.

As the restoration progresses, alterations to the carving are kept to a minimum. The objective is to make sure the woodcarving stays as close to its original state as possible. Broken pieces of the carving are glued back together again. Missing pieces are cut to shape.

Reconstruction of Liege Style Furniture

Important furniture that still has remnants of carvings or from which certain pieces are missing can be fully restored thanks to historical research on the basis of pictures, documents, markings and the character of the carving itself. We always pay close attention to ensure that the authentic character of the period piece is preserved.

This way we prevent that valuable pieces are lost forever and help them find back their previous lustre.

Reconstruction of wooden sculptures

The woodcarving workshop of Patrick Damiaens is also specialized in restoring en reconstructing wooden sculptures. It sometimes happens that a pulpit, confessional or other piece of church furniture is missing part of its ornamentation or carvings.

This often involves sculptures in the form of limbs (e.g. fingers). By studying the character of the sculpture and possibly creating a plasticine model we are able to form an image of the original woodcarving.

Reconstruction of carved Wall-Paneling

A new dove for a pulpit (St-Anna church  Bruges)

When restoring a sculpture, a lot of attention is paid to detail, in order to make sure that the reconstructed sculpture blends in perfectly with its surroundings.  Where possible, the same wood is used as that of the piece of furniture, the sculpture or the surroundings, to ensure a proper finish (colour,…) of the restored sculpture. This way it becomes one with its surroundings again.

 
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                             Patrick Damiaens is Member of Pearls of Craftsmanship