About the Atelier

Restoring is our craft

Naples Antique Restorations is a company that still works according to the old craft: restoring with knowledge of antique furniture. This distinguishes us from many others. A very good price / product ratio and a fast service means that many customers find their way to us.
We work according to the principle that as much as possible the preservation of the original is paramount. This means that the patina (the natural dis-coloration of the wood) must absolutely be maintained, so sanding is excluded. Faded and yellowed French Polish is a form of overdue maintenance. Crimping cracks and warping also fall under this. A good restoration can hardly be seen. We only renew something if the part is completely gone or missing.
The end result must look like the piece is well preserved, without any noticeable damage over time. With restoration it is important to know where one stops. The danger of too much restoration is always lurking. As soon as a piece of furniture looks too new, it has been restored too much.

That is our craft.

Woodworm in your antique furniture.

Afraid that your antiques are being eaten? It will not run like that, but you have to do something about it. What are woodworms? Woodworms are larvae of beetles that lay their eggs in cracks and holes in the wood. The larch then 'lives' sometimes six years in the wood to eventually emerge as a beetle and crawl out of the wood. And then the cycle starts from the beginning. It is therefore important to stop this process, otherwise it will seriously affect your furniture or home. We fight the woodworm by first removing the drill meal and then chemically destroying the woodworm. If the wood and the construction of your furniture is so affected, we inject the channels with thin glue to reinforce them.

Polishing or rubbing 'eight'. It happens entirely manually at Van Holthe. With a dot, soaked in shellac, the paint is applied in 30 to 35 times. Each lacquer layer consists of about 30 strokes. In other words, your polished table has been processed 1000 times with the dot. We do not believe machines to be polite, but that often results in 'orange peels', as we call them in the jargon. You do not want that and we do not want it at all.

Restoration golden mirror and picture frames

We restore golden mirror and picture frames. Due to desiccation, the connection between the gesso layer (thin layers of oil paint) and the wood can be released, so that pieces of the list can be lost. We inject thin glue between the individual parts to secure them. If necessary, we renew missing carving, the gesso and kraplak layer and gild it.

Cleaning oak furniture

We clean and treat oak furniture with wax and linseed oil. The old wax is removed with turpentine. The cupboard is then fed with linseed oil, carnabau (wax), let it soak in for two days and then wipe with a soft brush and soft cloth.

Restoration locks and fittings

We repair locks and make matching keys. We can restore brass drawer and key fittings. Missing seizure can be poured and patinated, so that it fits with the rest.
 
The presentation below provides an overview of various restorations carried out by Naples Antique Restorations. We could of course show a lot more, but we think the diversity of our craft is well demonstrated. Restoring in a natural way. An object can not be new!