We are going to show you how we repaired the settee from the image on the left,
to the conserved, reupholstered image on the right.  Many clients do not know
all that goes into the conservation of an old frame prior to reupholstery;
doing the treatment properly is essential to the life of an antique.

Our client had two matching Louis XV settees circa 1750 which were family pieces.

In their lifetimes, they had been gilded, shellacked, then painted over many times.  Someone (not our
client) had upholstered them in green suede
with a fairly hideous red trim and decorative nails.

One’s frame, marked “I”, was completely intact, right.
The other, “II”,  had a broken arm, shown above.

We conserved and reupholstered both settees,
but are choosing to blog about the one
with the broken arm, as we performed many
more treatments to the second settee.
You can sometimes see the mark “II”.

Notes about photography:  We can see how the photography through out this report is very odd.  This was done with two early (and not as easy as your iPhone) digital cameras, and Kate was a newbie to using them.  Both were driving her crazy.
They would suddenly take pictures in a green tone, and we didn’t know why.
Many were out of focus!  Unfortunately, when you are working,
you can’t stop and download images, you learn on the job as work progresses —
there is no going back.  So, these images are what they are, a work in progress!
Also, if you lay your cursor over the top of the images where several images
are grouped together, labeling (if we have labeled) will appear.

ASSESSMENT

“II” has a broken arm.

Tenons broken in their mortise.

Tenons broken in their mortise.

The broken arm, above, was sheared
on the outside back, and the tenons were broken in their mortise.

The frame was also cracked in many
places, some serious, some surface,
shown below in the front legs and
below in the center seat medallion.

Extreme cracking left-facing front leg.

Extreme cracking left-facing front leg.

Extreme cracking right-facing front leg.

Right-facing front leg.

Above, cracking and warping in the two front legs.

Note the poor upholstery done as it covers the carving.

You can see bits of intact gilding around the flowers.

After our finish treatment.

Our trim does not cover the carvings.

Above, a glimpse of the center seat hand-carved floral medallion as it progressed through treatment.  If you look closely in images 1-2 above you can catch some of the gilding left from the beginning of the settee’s life.

In most hand-carved items, the motifs are often
differ slightly between two “matching” settees,
example shown right after treatment.
These “matching” settees were created as a set
to be used together in a formal room.
On our settees, the carvings often varied slightly
on the same frame; this is even taking into account how some of the carvings are more worn.

EXCAVATION

Excavation is removing the upholstered items of the showcover
and all the buildup; below, a slideshow of our strip!
Excuse the green tint to the images!

1 / 18

REPARATION

Our frame is ready for reparation.

Note:  Many repairs were happening concurrently, which is why you may see an
image of a repair that is discussed later shown included in another batch of images.

Our initial goal after assessment of the excavated frame “II” remained
reparation of the broken arm, right.

We were to repair the cracked center medallion and the damaged left-facing front leg (both shown in detail images above in ASSESSMENT).  Other items included the shoulders and seat frame, shown below.

During this time we noticed two attached markings on the front right-facing top of the leg, shown left:

•  “UTB/6536/2821” and
•  “Buy 6536/2821 Paid $18,500.00”

We don’t know if this price was for both settees or for the one we were working on, and our client did not know that either.

Note:  It is a common practice at MPFC, though not performed on every screw bore,
to strengthen the bore hole using a dowel or hard picks in the bore hole before reinserting a screw; this was done in many instances below due to punky wood surrounding a screw.  Occasionally the hole is made much bigger and a larger dowel is secured using hide glue or gap-filling PVA, giving greater stability.

Hundreds of hard picks were used.

A porcupine knee joint!

Jaws.

Both frames were extremely damaged
with nail holes from many upholsterings; examples of the tack holes shown right.  The tacking margins were repaired to strengthen the frame for decades of future use.

Hard picks were tapped into the many holes, shown above, using hide glue to secure them.  (No usable photos process.)  It took several days to do this for both settees!

After the glue set, the tops of the picks
were leveled, above left.  Second image,
the settee with the picks leveled.

Araldite 1253 was used to smooth and fill surrounding areas.  It can be seen as the darker fill in the image, left, during the finish phase.  Araldite 1253 was a strong museum approved carvable epoxy wood-like resin, unfortunately no longer made.

Also, both shoulders and inside back
had frame issues: cracking, splits,
loose joints, and breaks.

Some of these cracks, such as the one
shown on the right-facing shoulder top, right, could be secured by gluing the
cracks, then further securing with
nails, which are visible in images above.

Reparation of parts followed by the use
of a prosthetic solved many issues, such as
the splitting carved interior frame shown left
on the right-facing inside back.

Above, in the left-facing shoulder, a chip
dropped out of the front of the inside of the frame.   Concurrently, there were splits and issues
showing themselves on the backside of the
left-facing shoulder, shown below.

The piece was gently pulled out (it was barely
hanging onto the front of the frame) and repaired.

On the backside of the left-facing
shoulder where the piece was hanging on,
a larger loss was occurring.  Pieces from
the backside, shown above and right,
were also gently removed, repaired, and glued back into the area using hide glue.

Right, the completed repair after the internal prosthetic frame was installed, which is discussed below.

And internal prosthetic made of Western Maple was inserted onto the interior of the inside back frame, to strengthen the inside back for the upholstery phase, shown above.
The hard picks had been inserted, and the prosthetic was carved to be level with the frame.

Internal prosthetic completed, above.

Before hard picks, note the extremely damaged seat frame.

After gluing, the prosthetic would be left to set overnight.

Stabilizing prosthetics were also added to the top of the seat frame to ensure the seat was strong enough to last many decades.

After hard picks had filled the many
nail holes, Western Maple was applied to
the seat frame using hide glue, and clamped to cure, shown in the second image above.  It was then drilled and steel screws were inserted, detail shown left.

To further strengthen the frame, new corner blocks were also added of Western Maple, example shown right of the rear left-facing corner block.  MPFC does not believe corner blocks were ever created for the seat frame.

Corner blocks were used to secure and strengthen the leg joints, shown above on the right-facing front leg.  (Excuse the arm laid across the corner block in image 1.)

Hand-forged iron rods reinstalled on Settee #1.

At one time hand-forged iron rods were placed on the frames, presumably to strengthen them.  We doubt they were original to the seat frame, but have no proof of when they were applied, but they are  quite old.  We removed them, and repaired the screw bored using hard dowels and hide glue.  After setting overnight, we drilled a smaller bore, and reinstalled the screws.

Above, forged rods on Settee I. Right, detail of installed rod on Settee II.  (Images shown during the upholstery phase.)

The frames ready for the FINISH phase, below, with all repairs completed:

1. Above, front view showing
   stabilizing prostheitcs to the seat;
2. Left and above, the right-facing
   arm break is repaired, and;
3. Bottom, the settee back, showing the inside back tacking and stabilizing prosthetic interior frame additions.

FINISH

Note:  Again, apologies for the off-color images.  All due to our
screwy camera issues, and even more important in finish shots!

We were finishing the settees in a warm cream oil paint using Gamblin paints.

After experimenting with various shades, we decided upon Titanium White mixed with Transparent Earth Red, picking up the tint of the contracting color of the fabric, shown third image above.   Kate kept tract of the proportions using the diagram in the second image above; final color left.

The paint was allowed to thoroughly dry, shown right.  The darker areas are shadows in the carvings.

After the paint dried thoroughly, Mitchell  had success with a technique using Gamblin’s Gamsol (Odorless Mineral Spirits or OMS) and Liberon Wax to accent and polish the carvings:

1.  Clear Liberon Black Bison Wax for the overall polish and
2. Liberon Black Bison Wax in Medium Oak to accent.

Mitchell began with the Clear Liberon Black Bison Wax, shown left, covering all settee surfaces.

He used a stiff Blick Bristle #30 Flat, dipping it into Gamlbin’s OMS poured into a bowl, and then dipped the brush into the Clear polish, right, and swirled the mixture around on the brush making it viscous. He worked the polish all over each settee, shown above left.  It was allowed to cure (with a bit of help to begin drying using a heat gun, above right).

He then came back with polishing tools, both felt buffers and shoe brushes, and polished the wax to a lovely sheen (no images).

Next he did the same process, dipping the brush again into Gamblin’s OMS and the Liberon Black Bison Wax in Medium Oak, right.  This time he worked the dark polish into the crevices and in so doing  highlighted the carvings.

After drying he again came back with polishing tools, both buffers and shoe brushes, and polished the wax to appear as if it was naturally accreted in the crevices, above.

The entire finish process took several weeks, because it had to be thoroughly cured between steps, and then completely cured before we started UPHOLSTERY, shown below.

Before finish…

… after finish

Above, before finish and after finish;
Below, two images of the frame after the finish cured.

UPHOLSTERY

Note: Some images of the upholstery process were lost.

We will take you through the upholstery process, from buildup to showcover and finally, passementerie (trim).

The frame was turned over and 4-inch French crosswoven 9 oz linen webbing was stapled in a tightly woven pattern, right.

This was eventually covered by a cotton percale muslin dustcover, not shown.

SEAT BUILDUP

9 oz jute burlap stitched to 12 oz jute hessian.

Algerian.

Polished red coir.

A 12 oz jute hessian seat deck was stapled to the seat frame.  9 oz burlap was stitched to the seat deck, to be pulled over the edging.

Algerian (shredded palm leaf fiber) was spread along the edges, above, topped by polished red coir (shredded coconut fiber).

Left, detail of Algerian and polished reed coir.

Algerian and coir are compressed
and tacked tightly to the border, image 1 above.  Once completed the excess
burlap is trimmed and all the edges are stitched together, image 2 above.

Waxed black slipping cord completes the stitching pattern for the edgeroll, using a locking running stitch, process shown right, and completed in image 3 above, and below.

Around the front of the left-facing arm…

… and around the left-facing back stile.

Details of stitching completed, above.

Organic felted cotton…

… white percale muslin.

Organic felted cotton is laid between the edgeroll, image 1,
topped with white percale muslin, image 2 above.
This cotton topper extended over the edgeroll and the white percale
was pulled over the edgeroll and tacked.
(Unfortunately those images are lost.)

Machine embroidered showcover
fabric was from Cowtan and Tout,
chosen by our client, an interior
decorator.

The showcover was later pulled over
the seat and stitched into place,
shown left.  (Note the back is
completed, which we discuss below.)

INSIDE BACK

The inside back was next, and the settee was turned on its back.

Inside back webbing.

Foundation of 13 oz hessian.

4-inch 9 oz crossover linen webbing was stapled onto the inside back, shown left above and right.  First stapling was 3/8″ “C” wire chisel point staple; foldover staples were 3/8″ “M” (“50”) wire flat point staples.

13 oz polished hemp burlap topper over webbing, right image above. We were ready to add the stuffing of red coir, below.

Red polished coir before rolling…

Red coir rolled and ready for stuffing!

Raw red polished coir in bags, above
left, is pulled and rolled into the proper
size rolls to insert into the inside
back, shown stacked and ready to
insert, above right.

In the detail left, you can see the
black slipcord ready to accept the
rolled red coir.

The red coir rolls are laid into the waiting black slipcord, to be tightened down,
above in image 1,  and in 2, all the rolls are laid onto the inside back.  Then lose coir is laid on top of the rolls and allowed to fill in gaps as necessary, image 3 above.

Mitchell continually measures the fiber stack to ensure he has the proper amount of fiber once compressed, shown right.

11 0z hessian topper is laid over the coir, and the stitching pattern chalked onto the inside back, image 1 above.

Bridal stitches and running stitches secure the coir into place under the topper, images 2 and 3 above.

An edgeroll is created, detail shown left.

Black horse hair is added onto the
topper, shown above and right,
and balanced across the inside back.
This gives the back a softer more comfortable feel when one sits back into it.

The black horsehair is also tucked
around the edges of the inside back form, detail shown right.

Organic felted cotton is laid onto the horsehair, image 1, and topped with white percale muslin, image 2 above.

Corners are carefully stitched into a smooth curve, image three above.

The showcover is placed onto the muslin topper, and tacked around the frame, shown left.  (This was actually done at the end.)

Again the settee is turned, now onto its face so the outside back is available for upholstering. Note the pieces of showcover fabric are holding the central bridal stitches from ripping through the inside back, image 1, above.

The same layers are applied, images above and right:

1. Loose lofty organic cotton batting, image 2 above, then
2. Organic felted cotton is laid onto the lofty cotton, image 3 above, and
3. Topped with white percale muslin, image 4, right.
4. Finally the showcover is stapled onto the back and ready for the trim, shown bottom right.

CUSHION

The CUSHION was built after the seat buildup,
but we are showing it at the end.

The center of the cushion is 75/25 white goose down to feather.  We added a buffer due to needing additional compression.  The MODERN machine embroidered showcover demanded excessive compression which down alone cannot deliver.  Spun Dacron rolls, shown above, were blanket-stitched to the down ticking in order to give support.

It was wrapped in down-proof sheeting muslin, above.
Showcover was added to the cushion at the end, below.

We will start with the cushion.

Patterns for the cushion were taken,
above, and material for the cushion was
cut, shown left.

Other pieces were
created and cut, not shown.

The cushion was built so that the showcover could be removed
and sent out for cleaning, shown above, right and below.

It is not easy to wrestle a cushion like
this, but it is nice to be able to clean the cover, as seats are likely to get dirty
more than other parts of a settee.

Also, it is important to take into account how the cushion will change with use.

Boxing detail.

Ready to stuff.

First fit.

PASSEMENTERIE

5/8-inch passementerie (trim) was chosen from Janet Yonaty’s collections.
Trim was glued in place on the frame using
Aileen’s Original Tacky Glue, shown in the left image above.

Passementerie was pinned to each
cushion and hand-stitched, shown in
images above.

Left, detail of the completed cushion with the passementerie in place.

Below, completed Settee “II” without and with cushion in place.

Finally, commentary on using a material like this one
on a sinuous Louis XV Ca. 1750 Settee:

AFTER TREATMENT,
COMPLETED SETTEES

Completed Settee “II”, above and below.

Completed Settees “I” and “II” side by side, above and below.

We also created slipcovers and matching and complimenting pillows for all her pieces, to tie them together in a large living room, to view, go to:
Louis XV Settees Slipcovers
Embellished Pillows

dkatiepowell  @  aol.com / mitchellrpowell  @  aol.com
(So sorry, but we got too much spam — please copy and remove the spaces!)
503.970.2509 / 541.531.2383
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