Repair

[David]

Freakin' brilliant is what that is!

[Naga Sasra]

Jason and Shahrial.

I did not have any of the broken off chunks, what you see in the "before" photos is what I had to start out with.

From what I understand the restoration started with separating or breaking apart the old glued pieces, which took weeks in miscellaneous solvents of kinds, once they came apart completely clean the existing surfaces of old gluing material, then reglue the surfaces. (Sort of like resetting a broken bone that grew together the wrong way)
Then small pieces of matching wood pieces were carved to form and replace the missing chunks (like marquetry) once glued into place the repaired surface was finely sanded and polished.

My explanation is no doubt very simplistic in nature, as I was not there. The actual restoration took a long time to complete, a full and deep knowledge of the structure of the wood, patience and the superb hands of the craftmen involved. Obviously, I am very very happy with the end result.

[BluErf]

Wow!!!!!!! I'm very impressed with the end results!

[Jason Anstey]

Thanks Naga Sasra.

Seeing the pics was very impressive, but now knowing that the pieces were missing really takes restoration to a level that I didn't think possible.

Thanks for sharing, any further info on this would be very much appeciated.

What was the finish used?

cheers

Jason

[A. G. Maisey]

Jason, I've discussed this matter with Naga Sasra, and we have agreed that it is probably better that I answer your questions, since I was involved in the job.

The wrongko was wrapped in a damp cloth, that was kept damp, until the poorly glued joint separated, the old glue was then removed with acetone and mechaincally. The wrongko was then allowed to slow dry--I forget how long, but probably a couple of weeks---and I joined the major break with 5 minute Araldite tinted with burnt umber. I opted to do this part of the repair myself, because the 5 minute Araldite available in Indonesia does not seem to be as good as we can get here in Australia, because I have had much more experience in the use of Araldite than anybody I know in Jawa, because I know my work of this nature will stand the test of time and I have had unfortunate experiences with similar large breaks that have been repaired in Jawa.

The wrongko was then taken to Solo and given to a man whom I consider to be the best tukang wrongko working today. He cut small pieces of dark timoho from old, unrepairable wrongkos in his stock, and as Erik has explained, joined them as if he were doing marquetry.I do not know what adhesive he used. A couple of very small chips in the wrongko being repaired were filled with button shellac. Some minor reshaping of the profile was carried out.

The finish is a traditional french polish, but instead of the high lustre finish, a "dop" finish has been used.

I hope this satisfactorily answers your questions.

[Jason Anstey]

Thanks Gents,

Simply an awesome job, and further proof that its not what you know but who you know.

Great explanation and thanks again for sharing.

Cheers

Jason

[ariel]

This is the museum-quality job!
My hat is off to all of the participants in this project!
Now, I have a pair of broken marble arms in my garage: should I contact the Louvre and tell them to ship the Venus of Milo to Australia?

[A. G. Maisey]

Naw, probably not Ariel.

Marble is not really our forte.

Jason, after I posted my explanation I had a niggling little thought about the finish.

I remember I ordered a "dop" finish, but when it came back to me the finish was not a standard "dop". I queried what it was and was told that the grain had been filled with shellac a la french polish, but the surface had then been disangling, which is burnishing using bone or ivory. As I said, I recalled this after I posted, and I was not really certain of what I recalled. I have had Naga Sasra check the surface on this piece, and from what he tells me I am now pretty certain that the finish is as I just described it, not a normal dop finish.

[Jussi M.]

Is this thread pure class(ic) or what?

[Sajen]

Indeed, it is!