If you were at the show, you were able to see the finish that we do, unlike most dealers and restorers nowadays, which is our signature French Polishing. And that definitely makes any piece incredibly attractive, clean, valuable, and that’s why in the late 1700s the English replaced any other type of finish, such as waxing and oiling, with French Polishing, done with shellac only.

And not only you were able to see the finish completed, but also the polishing in progress.

That definitely was what is called a ’show-stopper’, with many visiting our space to see how such a fine finish is achieved.

We worked on a piece in particular, a rosewood trolley, and demonstrated the smoothing of the surface with steel wool, the polishing with the shellac soaked rubbing pad, and so on.

Many stopped to ask questions, to ask for restoration services, and some came back to see how the work progressed, being surprised by the amount of time needed to achieve the results.

And I can confirm that nobody really knew anybody that could do the same job with the same technique, and basically, anybody that do and can French Polish.

Younger people had very little idea of what shellac is, and many ignore the present uses of it.

We informed everybody, and we revealed all that can be revealed at an antiques’ show, as we prefer the educated client that knows what to look for, so he/she can avoid fakes and non antique pieces, at the same time avoid disappointments and therefore not loose interest in antiques, and hopefully, he/she would be even more interested in our pieces, which are authentic antiques; and that’s while learning more about the correct finish for antiques, how value is affected by a bad finish, what are the benefits of protection of antique pieces of furniture, and so on.