French, 19th century

Private collection

French 18th and 19th century decorative art objects are among the most finely crafted in the world. Each of these ormolu candelabra is built of twenty-two separate brass castings with ormolu surfaces and two finely detailed bronze figures patinated to a dark blue-green.

The candelabra arrived with pieces broken and missing, and deep corrosion marring the gold surfaces, exuding from the pores of the brass castings.

In all our work, we strive to maintain a balance between correcting damage and retaining the work’s original qualities. Consider the issues involved in the restoration of these ormolu candelabra:

• The corrosion and poor adhesion of the gold on the base castings was serious enough to warrant replating to match the nearby ormolu pieces.
• The joint connecting one figure’s leg to the sphere was weak. We rebuilt it from the inside, without affecting the surface.
• A spacer beneath a candle cup was missing. We recreated the spacer and plated it to match the surrounding ormolu surfaces.