The STaTe hermiTage muSeum annual reporT

estoratIon anD conserVatIon restoratIon anD conserVatIon
laBoraTory for ScienTific reSToraTion
of furniTure
Headed by V. Gradov
longcaSe clocK
and chinoiSerie caSe
Case: England, c. 1700
Dial and clockwork: London, William Post
of London Bridge, 1750s
Restored by V. Kashcheyev
The Laboratory has accumulated considerable
experience of restoring objects made
in the “chinoiserie” technique, imitating the
Chinese red and black lacquer. Such objects
include the longcase clock restored in 2010.
The case of the clock was made of English
oak at the end of the 17th century. The case
and its decoration have since been repeatedly
altered and renovated.
The examination of the item revealed that
the clock had originally had a dark-green
background, which was changed to red,
probably in the 18th century. The existing
clockwork and dial were probably added at
the same time, around the 1750s.
By the time it was brought to the Laboratory,
the case of the clock was dilapidated.
The structure was loose, and the glue in
the mortise and tenon joints had disintegrated.
The drying of the wood had caused
the priming under the lacquer painting to
come loose and flake. There were many late
and imprecise overpaintings over the whole
surface. The shell gold, which was the key
component of the original painting, was
lost in places, as was the black glue colour
(bone black).
Restorer V. Kashcheyev
According to the restoration task, the loose
priming was pasted to the painting again,
so that the case could be dismantled inasmuch
as that was possible. V. Kashcheyev
developed a new method of filling in the
lost areas of the old priming, which made
it possible to avoid the levelling finish
when removing the excess new priming.
The method follows the key principle of
conservation – the new priming is removable
and maximizes the preservation of
the original priming and lacquer painting.
The remnants of old glue were removed
from all the components of the case, and
the mortise and tenon joints were restored.
Flaking areas and cracks on the panels,
boards and profiles were patched with new
wood close to the original in its physical and
technical characteristics. The case was reassembled
using new glue, and late imprecise
overpaintings were removed. The lost areas
of shell gold were filled in with imitation
materials, which can be removed again
without having any effect on the original
painting. The remaining layer of lacquer
was an alcohol-based combination of shellac
and sandarac resin, so the final stage was
a shellac varnish finishing.
The clockwork produced by William Post of
London Bridge was restored and installed
at the Laboratory for Scientific Restoration
of Timepieces and Musical Mechanisms by
O. Zinatullin.
Longcase clock. After restoration
laBoraTory for
ScienTific reSToraTion
of chandelierS
Headed by P. Khrebtukov
lighTing uniTS of The Jordan
STaircaSe
The current lighting units on the Jordan
Staircase were installed when the old spelter
lamps in the state rooms of the Winter Palace
were replaced with gilded bronze ones.
The work started in 1899 under the supervision
of Leonty Benois, Chief Architect of the
Imperial court. The artist N. Emme was invited
to work on detailed designs for chandeliers
and bracket lamps. All the plaster models
were made in the workshop of P. Kozlov,
one of the best modellers in St. Petersburg,
whose signature can be seen on each of the
chandeliers. The Adolph Moran factory was
chosen to make the units themselves. All the
replacement work was completed by 1903.
The latest restoration of the bronze items
from the Jordan Staircase was undertaken
over thirty years ago, while the bracket
lamps of the upper tier were last restored in
the 1950s. Over this time, the electric wiring
had become faulty, and the bronze had
become darkened and stained.
After it was decided to start a complex restoration
of the Jordan Staircase, the lighting
units (22 wall brackets and 5 rocaille
chandeliers) were dismantled and moved
to the Laboratory for Scientific Restoration
of Chandeliers.
The lighting units of the Jordan Staircase
were in a satisfactory state of preservation.
But the gilding had partly worn out and was
stained with rust. The metal was partially
stained and corroded, with craquelure and
cracks. Some fixtures had been lost or deformed,
and some tulip-shaped crystal decorations
had been lost. The electric wiring
was faulty.
In order to minimize the weight of the units
(each bracket lamp weighs 100 kg, and
each chandelier weighs 300 kg), as many
elements as possible were dismantled before
the units could be removed from the
suspension hooks. After these components
had been dismantled, the chandeliers were
taken down from the hooks and lowered
by means of a polyspast pulley block with
the lifting capacity of 200 kg. This work
required the erection of scaffolding and
electric hoists. The Laboratory made a new
pulley block with the lifting capacity of over
300 kg, which was used to lift and attach
the fully mounted chandeliers after the restoration.
The restoration largely consisted in washing
and cleaning the lighting units. The removal
of dust and oil deposits, corrosion traces,
Start of the work. December 2009
Stains of many years
Mounting the wiring
82 83