Tuesday April 29th
Due to the need to shop for restoration materials, we will open at 10 am.
For more info, please call: 617 894 0731
Thanks!
Should antiques be restored?
Yes, if they are real antiques in need of attention, they definitely should.
But it’s not simple to answer in a exhaustive manner.
Basically it can be said that antiques are meant to be restored if they have lost the original looks and functionality, therefore become impractical to use and/or unpleasant to see.
Unless the piece needs for any reason to show its signs of aging, for show and educational purposes for instance; but that’s quite an exception and happens in museums, for restoration classes and so on.
Common is instead the case of “not so antique” pieces and of low end items where, although it still would be nice to have them restored, but the cost of a decent restoration job is far too high compared to the actual and final value of the piece after being restored.
Some pieces do have an added emotional value, specific to few people, and that’s another case in which it might be worth a good job, since the commercial value of the piece is not a priority in this case.
Keeping the above points in mind, the answer, again, can be that if the antique (authentic) is worth it, restore it, if it’s not worth it, leave it as it is, use it in the actual conditions or store it away, with care, and one day, sooner rather than later, it will be worth a restoration job.
In any case, rather than a cheap, messy and uneducated restoration process, leave it alone, don’t even fix it, let alone refinish it, since in that case you might actually devalue the piece, destroy the important signs of aging (patina, usage signs, damage) and make it even more difficult and expensive to restore properly.
Many restorers do not know, for lack of education or just to save time and money, how pieces were finished originally, and simply have no idea as how to restore them. Many just are not capable. They are often still very expensive.
Quality English antiques for instance, were finished with shellac only, since the late 1700s, when it’s use was discovered in southeast asia, and the finish was so successful that it replaced waxing and oiling.
The good materials and beatiful woods that were available to English cabinet-makers were the ideal pieces for shellac. It makes the beauty of the veins and grain really stand out and adds warmth.
No fine piece of furniture was ever finished in any other way than applying shellac, obviously by hand, mostly by rubbing a cloth previously dipped in liquid shellac, in a procedure known as French Polishing.
French Polish is therefore not a product or material, but the way shellac was applied with a very labour intensive method.
The process was abandoned in approximately the second quarter of the 20th century, when synthetic resins became very cheap and labour very expensive.
You will see no high end pieces restored in any other way than by using shellac.
Our pieces are all restored in the historically correct way, adding value to the piece, by applying our own prepared shellac.
Boston Marathon
So the latest store hours are valid all week excluding Monday.
Traffic and accessibility is going to be bad, i am told, so we are going to be closed, unless someone wants to visit and let’s us know.
We should happen to go to the store anyway, at some point during the day.
Thanks!
From Monday April 21st
Some clients have said that visiting the store is difficult because, although they regularly drive by, that always occurs when the store is closed, outside our normal hours.
That’s why we are going to try to make even these clients happy by giving them, or at least most, the opportunity for coming in to see us at hours that are convenient for them once or twice a week, without the need to make an appointment.
Although we encourage making appointments, we understand that some might be to shy and uncomfortable to do so.
Therefore, we will temporarily try the following hours of opening:
- Monday 12 to 8
- Tuesday 10 to 5
- Wednesday 8 to 5
- Thursday 10 to 5
- Friday 10 to 5
- Saturday 10 to 5
- Sunday closed
Thanks!
From Monday April 21
The new store hours will be as follows:
- Monday 12 to 8
- Tuesday 10 to 5
- Wednesday 8 to 5
- Thursday 10 to 5
- Friday 10 to 5
- Saturday 10 to 5
The idea is to give the opportunity to visit the store during hours that are more convenient to those that pointed out the problem.
Some clients said that it’s tough for those that drive by very early in the morning and very late in the afternoon.
We do encourage to make appointments, but for those that are to shy to do so, I hope that the new schedule will be useful.
Thanks!
Monday Apr 13 hours
Business as usual on Monday, only opening one hour later at 11:00.
Please ignore the hours on the entrance door of the store, which says that we are closed on Monday.
April 11
Today Old England Antiques will be closed between 11:00 and 12:30 approx.
We are sorry for any inconvenience and, as usual, we want to take this opportunity to invite clients to make appointments in order to serve you even better, with no commitments necessary.
Store hours for this coming weekend
We will be closed on Sunday 6th, as usual, and also on Monday 7th, when we will be out of town for business reasons. We will reopen on Tuesday 8th at 11:00 am.