Welcome to The Repair Shop,
where cherished family heirlooms are brought back to life.
Anything can happen. This is the workshop of dreams.
Home to furniture restorer Jay Blades.
Nowadays, things are not built to last
so we've become part of this throwaway culture.
It's all about preserving and restoring.
We bring the old back to new.
Working alongside Jay will be some of the country's leading craftspeople...
I like making things with my hands.
I love to see how things work and I want to know how things work.
Whether it is a Rembrandt or somebody's family piece,
every painting deserves the same.
..each bringing their own unique set of skills.
You're about to witness some magic.
They will resurrect...
revive...
Oh, yes!
..and rejuvenate
treasured possessions
and irreplaceable pieces of family history...
Oh, my goodness me. It looks like it's new!
..bringing both the objects...
- SHE GASPS - Oh, wow.
..and the memories that they hold
back to life.
- Oh, thank you. - Come here. - Oh!
In The Repair Shop today...
..conservator Lucia Scalisi rescues a painting
and restores the early memories of a lifelong love story...
Wow! What have you done? It looks like you have been shaving.
Little cuts, yeah.
..while ceramics whizz Kirsten Ramsay
gets to grips with a broken, but beloved, painted plaque.
First to arrive at a rather rain-soaked Repair Shop today
is Emma, who's travelled from Wimborne in Dorset.
- Hello, Emma. - Hello.
- How you doing? - I'm good, thank you. How are you? - Very good.
- Is it in the front there, then? - It is indeed. - OK. You have that.
Cool. Let's go inside. This way.
She's brought something that's crying out for
the help and skills of furniture restorers Will and Jay.
Wow!
- What is it, Emma? - It's a jewellery chest, which was my grandmother's.
When Emma was ten years old,
she inherited this cherished family heirloom from her grandma -
a Japanese lacquered jewellery chest.
Since I inherited the chest it's always held a real significance for me.
It's always lived on my dressing table, held my grandmother's jewellery,
my jewellery. I think she'd had it, you know, for most of her life.
So it's a real special item.
Emma treasured the jewellery box for the next 26 years -
but in 2012, her home was burgled.
As soon as I entered the bedroom, my heart sank.
Not only had the jewellery gone but they'd taken the drawers
completely from within the chest,
they'd ripped out the heart of the chest
and it's like they had sort of ripped out my heart, as well.
My father-in-law kindly remade the drawers but they have no handles.
You either have to try and prise them from the side
or you have to, kind of, lean the cabinet forward
in order to get them out. It's not easy.
I'm sure there's something we can do, definitely, with the lacquerwork,
because I think the front of the drawers would need to be relacquered
- to, sort of, be in keeping with the top drawer and everything else. - Yep.
So would there have been any detail on these?
- Yep, they were the same colour as the top drawer... - OK.
..and had vine work on them, and you can see that it used to run,
- sort of, through and, sort of, connect all the drawers up. - Yes.
I see that. One thing I will ask - the handles.
- Er, it'd be hard for me to find exactly the same handles. - Yep.
Would you be happy for me to replace them with something similar?
Yeah, I think as long as it's all in keeping, then I'd be happy with that, yeah.
What would it mean to you to have it repaired?
When we got burgled, I felt...
Even though we were secure as we could be,
I kind of felt like I had let my grandparents down
in losing all their jewellery and everything.
And this'd kind of be... You know, we never recovered their jewellery.
- Right. - This would be like the last piece of the puzzle, really,
to get this restored.
So I'd feel really proud that I'd been able to do that for them,
- even though they're no longer here. - Yeah.
So if you leave that with us, what we'll do is, once it is repaired,
- we'll get back to you and let you know. - Lovely. - OK? - Brilliant.
- All right. - Thank you. - No problem. Thank you for bringing it in. - Thanks so much. - Cheers.
- It's nice, isn't it? - It IS nice. - Yeah.
I felt really nervous about leaving the jewellery chest there
but really excited, really looking forward to having it repaired
and seeing it restored to its former glory.
I think it'll be really tricky getting the design right
so it doesn't look too overpowering. Something quite simple.
Let's get on with it, then. Lovely.
Will's challenge is to transform the bare wooden replacement drawers
by recreating the look of ancient Japanese lacquer,
using his modern materials.
The plan is to match the new drawers to the top drawer.
As soon as I've found and made up the right colour lacquer
for the drawers, I'll then lacquer the rest of the drawers
to, sort of, tie in with the original
and once that's thoroughly dry,
then I'll get on to the design of the front,
which I'm slightly nervous about.
Next through the Repair Shop doors are Patricia and Ivor Sansom,
who've travelled here from Hertfordshire.
Hello. How are we doing?
On here it says "painting", so obviously...
Lucia...if you don't mind joining me over here, please.
Their prized possession
will need the expert attention of art conservator Lucia Scalisa.
- Hello. - Nice to see you.
- Hello. - So, what is it?
Well, it's a very special painting.
- It's of a house... - Oh.
- ..that I was brought up in when I was a little girl. - Right.
During the war years, I was evacuated there with my grandmother,
who was cook-housekeeper at the house.
- Wow! - Then I lived there until I went into nursing
and I met Ivor and we had our courting years there.
- Wow! - And we were married from there.
That's nice. How did you manage to have it, then?
How did it come into your possession?
It belonged to my grandmother originally.
It was painted by Mrs McDougall, who she worked...
- It's signed. Signed here. - She worked for Mrs McDougall until she died.
- Right. - And on her death, it was given to my mother,
who was also brought up in the house.
And then, when my mother passed away, it was given to Ivor and I,
because it was sentimental to us.
Yes. Where was your courting done?
IVOR: We can't show it in the picture itself,
cos it'd be more farther out.
- So there was more garden here as well? - Garden, yes.
And shrubbery.
Conveniently!
- So you had your... - Maybe we should move on.
Do you know when she painted this?
I don't. I know that my grandmother had it from the 1920s.
Yeah, it looks beginning of the century,
- 20th century, yeah. - That's right. That's right.
Sometimes we get paintings like this,
- we don't know the background. - No.
So to have you here telling us this story, it's like living history.
It's fantastic.
It's a bit funny because it's brought up so much of our life,
really, that's been tucked away there
and forgotten about, really, isn't it?
- Yeah, yeah. - And now you're bringing it all back.
So I can see there's a little bit of paint flaking off there.
How was the damaged caused?
When it belonged to my mother, she had a pub near Bristol
and, unfortunately, they had a fire
and I understand it was fire damage and smoke damage from that.
It's not been hung since.
- Really? - It's been in store.
We'll be taking it out of its frame,
which needs a little bit of repair,
- which Jay will take care of, I think. - Yeah, we can do that.
It's part of the original history of the object, so it's worth...
Yes, I wouldn't like it changed.
Absolutely - keep it, keep it.
All right, so, then, surface cleaning and re-varnishing,
filling these losses but then retouching them.
Really lovely if you could do it.
Yeah. It's your history.
It is the history of love.
THEY CHUCKLE
Thank you for bringing it along.
Once we've repaired it and got it back to its former glory,
it might bring back some more memories of courting days.
- All right? OK. - Thank you.
Thank you. All right?
First things first - what a lovely couple.
- Unbelievable. - What a story. - Yeah.
Four generations, going onto five generations, who've owned this painting. Fantastic.
NARRATOR: Icknield House in Tring dates back to 1913.
And although Patricia and Ivor haven't been back there
for over 50 years, it will always hold very special memories.
I'd forgotten we were young once upon a time.
Yes. To talk about the picture
and the memories just come flooding back, really.
It's just unbelievable, really.
They were lovely memories.
So, what DID happen in the garden?
No comment.
THEY CHUCKLE
Lucia has over 25 years' experience conserving paintings
and, on initial inspection,
it looks like she has a big challenge on her hands.
Well, the flaking is a lot more extensive than I thought.
The worst area is here, where large lumps of paint have gone.
All these little tiny areas, the paint is curling up at the edges.
You can see there's little teeny-tiny white dots.
That's where the paint has gone.
There's also lots of little cracks
that are the paint beginning to lift.
And if you don't do something about it, it will get worse
and you're losing original material.
So the first thing I'm going to do is get this consolidated
because I want to be able to handle the painting and turn it over,
so I need to consolidate this and make sure that the paint isn't going to fall off.
In order to preserve the original paintwork
and prevent any further flaking,
Lucia applies an adhesive and uses
a heated spatula to fuse it to the paint.
OK. That's the last piece.
I'm going to turn the painting over now,
so we can get an idea of what's going on at the back.
- Jay... - Yes, how we doing?
You couldn't give me a hand to get it out the back of the frame?
If we lift it out, then I'll lift it out and up.
And if you could take the frame...
- It's all yours. - Thank you. - Good.
And this is my lovely painting out of its frame.
Wow, what have you done? It looks like you've been shaving.
- What's all those, like, tissues on there? - Yeah, little cuts, yeah.
Why have you got these tissue paper...
- This is tissue paper, isn't it? - It's acid-free tissue.
I've used it just to get the paint flakes down but, as you can see,
I've got to now take all this off
and then I can clean the front of the painting.
But it means that all the paint is now fixed, it's secure.
- It's not going to peel any more? - No. - Right.
From treasured toys in need of emergency surgery...
..to ceramics that have seen better days,
the experts that man The Repair Shop
are determined to put the pieces back together.
Over in Carpentry Corner,
work is well under way on Emma's jewellery chest.
Will has given the only original drawer a deep clean
so that he can establish the exact colour he needs to recreate.
So I'm trying to make the lacquer with natural shellac polish
mixed with some pigments, so I've got a crimson-red pigment,
brown and black.
And I think it's a case of trial and error, really.
Not too bad. It's still quite red.
So what I'll do is move it over here.
And a bit of black...
It's not...
too, too far off from the colour I'm trying to get to.
I'm pretty happy so far. So far, so good.
But it's not just the drawer colour that has to match.
The intricate gold detailing is slightly three-dimensional,
which is proving tricky.
I've got some gold paint that I'm trying out at the moment
but it is just not...
It just doesn't look, doesn't have the same feel.
Ceramics connoisseur Kirsten might have just the thing.
A couple of the flowers and especially the thicker branch...
- Yeah. - It's slightly raised.
Is there any way to...
- So you just want it slightly thicker? - ..thicken it up?
- Slightly thicker, yeah. - Actually, you could...
You could pop a bit of French chalk in there.
- French chalk? - Yeah. - This might seem a bit of a silly question...
Try me.
- French chalk? - Yeah.
Is that just chalk but from France?
Er... Sorry to laugh. No, it's talc, actually.
- Is it? - Yeah. French chalk is talc, yeah, so...
Do you want to take those, then?
Yeah, that'd be great.
With the gold paint perfected,
it's now just a case of working out the design.
How you doing, Will?
I'm just mapping out the detail for the front of the jewellery chest.
Cool. What I was thinking is, basically, in the drawers,
cos it is going to be a jewellery box,
why don't I put something a bit nice?
Cos what she's got is just a wooden...
Yeah, a wooden inlay. We can put something - a little bit of velvet -
to put her rings and things underneath there.
On top of it, I should say. Is that cool with you?
- That sounds really nice, actually. - Can I do that? - Yeah, lovely.
- Brilliant. - I can do that, yeah? - Yeah.
- Measure this. I'll bring it back to you, two seconds. - Lovely.
While Jay gets to work on the luxurious inserts,
it's time for Will to take the plunge.
I think it is about time I start painting.
Oh, gosh, I'm nervous.
Small strokes, I think.
Next into The Repair Shop, Delia Scott from Essex.
I've had my item for 40 years and, before that,
my grandmother had it from 1914, when it was painted for her.
And I can remember it as a child in her house.
It passed to my mother when my grandmother died
and she passed it to me.
This one is a clear-cut case for Kirsten.
- Hello. - Hello. - What have you brought for me?
It was one of a pair that my grandmother had.
- Right. - And I think it got dropped...
Oh, right.
..by the way there is this crack running from top to bottom.
- Yes, I see. - And then there's a further crack
which runs through there.
- Yep. - And that's got to have been 45 years ago.
Oh, golly. So it's been broken all that time?
- Yes, it has. - Oh!
I'm just going to...
cut through there, actually.
- Yeah, no, it is. - Oh, dear. Loads of plaster!
I have had all sorts of things...
I've literally had chewing gum and all sorts but I haven't had plaster.
I think if I can clean it really well and get it stuck back...
It looks like it's quite a clean crack, isn't it?
Very, yes. Are you happy to leave it with us, Delia, yeah?
- Yes, I am. - OK. - Thank you for seeing it. - I'll get to work.
The news that it can be mended is just amazing.
I can't tell you how chuffed I am.
Having examined it after it came in,
it's actually glass and, really, I think all I need to do
is actually get the edges nice and clean, give the surface a clean,
and then just get it back together again.
I'm just going to leave it now to cure overnight.
A new day in The Repair Shop
and Kirsten's making ready for the return of her customer,
the owner of the broken glass plaque.
After expertly gluing the pieces together,
it's time to see if her handiwork has held.
So I'm just taking this tape off now...
..that's been holding the joins in place.
It would have been really nice if those joins had have
completely disappeared, which sometimes they do.
I think the owner will just be happy to have it all back in one piece
and up on her wall.
The last stage is just to fill this area here,
where there's little flakes of paint missing along the break edge.
So I'm just going to pop some filler in there
and retouch it and that's it.
- Hi, Delia. - Hello. Nice to see you again. - And you. How are you?
I'm very well, thank you.
Right. Well, I won't keep you in suspense.
- Oh, thank you. - So here it is.
Oh, wow!
It's gone back beautifully, hasn't it?
It's just wonderful to see it whole again.
So, what are your plans for it, then?
It's going to go straight on the wall when I get home.
It'll be magical to see it back there. It really, really will.
Fantastic.
It means everything to me,
because it's a tangible link with my grandma and my mother.
And every time I'm going to look at it, I'm going to smile.
Back inside, Lucia is slowly uncovering the original artistry
of Patricia and Ivor's fire-damaged picture -
and she's roped in Jay to fix the frame.
I usually have to do this myself on the frame, so it is really nice that
- you're here today, Jay. - OK.
I must say, this is the first frame I've ever worked on.
- Don't let me hear you say that. - HE CHUCKLES
It's my 16th frame I've worked on.
One corner done. Just three more to go.
So, are you going to take it apart and put it back together again?
- Yeah, take it apart and then do it properly. - Great.
- So, what are you doing? Looks like you have been cleaning out Will's ears. - I know! Look at it.
Amazing. But what I'm
pleased about is that the flaking consolidation has worked,
so the paint is all secure now, which is great.
I mean, the colours -
- look at those colours now, how bright they are. - They are bright.
With the painting consolidated and cleaned up,
Lucia can begin to fill in all the gaps.
This is the OptiVisor I use for close work.
And I'll be using it to do the filling.
The purpose of the filling is to actually bring up the surface
to the edge of the paint layer, the original paint layer,
and then I'll retouch to that.
Over the whole surface, there are easily
a thousand losses. Some of them are tiny but they're relatively deep
and if you don't fill them, you get too much of a dip on the surface
and it catches the light, so it disrupts your viewing of the image.
On this painting I'm actually retouching
the losses that I've filled,
so these are all the little white specks and there's lots of them.
I'm not actually going over any of the original painted surface at all.
The idea is that the artist's original intent
is all there for you to see.
So, hopefully, at the end of this process
you won't actually be able to see any of my work at all.
You'll just see the artist's painting.
As a conservator, you actually mix your own paint up
using these dry pigments,
and then mixing them with a synthetic resin so you have a paint,
which is what happens here. And I do the colour mixing on here.
One of the privileges of my job, for which I am eternally grateful,
is that nobody gets closer to the work of art...
..after the artist has done it than a conservator.
So I actually sort of see the whole thing, warts and all.
But usually the beauty of it.
It is a really privileged job. I love it.
In the fight against disposable culture,
the Repair Shop experts are using all their skills and expertise
to breathe new life into the nation's neglected possessions.
Over in Will's woodwork corner,
he's recreated the dark, glossy finish and meticulous hand painting
of an authentic Japanese design.
I'm just giving it a little buff up now.
Slightly nervous.
Hope that she'll be really pleased with this.
- All done, Will? - Amazing.
- Talk about amazing - THAT'S amazing. - Yeah? - Yeah, let's see.
Oh, yeah, you've done well, mate, you've done well.
- She's going to be happy. - She's going to be even happier
when she sees what you've done for the insides.
The inlays, yeah. Let's get them in.
- Is she coming now, yeah? - She will be here any minute.
Emma's back and ready to be reunited with her family heirloom.
It's been five years since it was damaged
and it's looked really sad in that time, so to have it back,
to have at home, to have it complete,
will be really, really special.
- Hello. - How we doing?
I'm good, thank you. How are you?
Very good. You all right?
- Hi. Nice to see you. - Hiya.
You've come for your jewellery chest - is that right?
- I have indeed, yes. - OK.
Are you ready?
It's lovely.
Really lovely. It's amazing.
Really, really amazing.
Good, good. And you've got handles.
- And we've got handles! - So you can actually use it.
I can use it again.
That's lovely!
Jay's done a really good job by lining all of the drawers.
- That's lovely. - Now you have something soft
- to put all your... - That's lovely. - ..jewellery on.
Really beautiful.
So, I know this is your grandma's chest that she gave to you.
- Would she be proud? - She would be really pleased.
Really, really pleased.
It's a long time since I have seen it looking...complete.
- Complete? - Yeah.
I feel like it kind of closes the story on the burglary,
and I think my grandma would be really, really proud
and really pleased to see it looking so beautiful again.
- I think she would. - I think she would as well.
So, let's get this wrapped up.
'I'm really pleased with the jewellery box.'
It looks absolutely amazing.
It looks just as it should do.
- And good luck for the future. - Thank you.
It's had a lot of love and care put into it
and I'm really, really pleased
and really looking forward to putting my jewellery back into it.
Over at the art station,
Lucia has been working her magic on that prized painting,
which has been hidden away in storage for 40 years.
Let's have a look.
JAY CHUCKLES
Oh, well done.
Wow! You guys have got to see it. Have a look at this!
NOW it's a painting.
That is a transformation, isn't it?
It's stable, it's been conserved,
so it will go through to future generations.
When I'm actually working on it,
I try and find out a bit more about the painting and who painted it.
And Violet McDougall - she did sell her paintings.
And they have been up for auction fairly recently.
- This is worth some money, then? - Well, in the hundreds.
- I mean, it's not, sort of... - Couple of hundred? - Yeah. Yeah.
The way you have an object and, actually, it kind of leads you,
- sort of... - Into these stories.
That's one of the beauties of the job, really.
- Yeah. - Wow! That's amazing. - Do think they'll like it?
- WILL: - I think they'll love it.
Patricia and Ivor have returned to Icknield House
for the first time since 1963
to collect their treasured painting and to relive some memories.
It is just wonderful, isn't it?
Just to be back.
We haven't been back since my grandmother died.
So long ago, but it's just as it used to be, really.
Making me feel old, now.
Well, we ARE old, aren't we?
They haven't been able to display their painting
since it was damaged in a fire
but, today, they'll be seeing it beautifully restored
and back to its former glory.
This is exciting.
- Gosh, that's lovely. - Our painting!
Oh, that's lovely.
Beautiful!
It's come back to what it used to be.
It is, isn't it?
It's just how I remember it.
I can't believe it.
All those memories.
It IS lovely.
I can't...
- Steady! - Well, it is just...
Just as it used to be, isn't it?
Such a long time ago.
It's just perfect, isn't it?
It's brought back so many memories -
memories of childhood
and, of course, spending time with Ivor round the bushes.
Those bushes have gone, the same as other things have gone in life!
There will be more incredible transformations
at the hands of our experts next time in The Repair Shop,
where treasured items are brought back to life.