Issue link: http://papercitymagazine.uberflip.com/i/956460
Left: Antiques waiting for repair. DeGolyer Estate, the grand 1940s-era building located at the Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Garden; and most recently, refurbished the interior woodwork on the Victorian-era Bryce House in Fort Worth. Authentically repairing and restoring wood often means using the same types of adhesives from centuries earlier, such as Scotch glue, an animal-hide base, which is heated in a double boiler and applied hot. Peter honed the technique as an apprentice and has used it for decades on antiques. For newer pieces, Peter uses stronger modern glues, but he never strays from the natural varnishes that give wood its beautiful luster. "It's all organic and natural, just as it was in the 18th century," he says. What's more, Peter makes his own spirit-based polishes from raw materials sourced from the East Coast and England, including shellac, a resin derived from the female lac bug found in India and Thailand. Sold in flakes, buttons, and seeds, shellac ranges from translucent yellow to amber to deep red. He keeps samples of the varnishes in jars and acrylic boxes to show customers. A silver tray holds mounds of the colorful natural polishes, as if they were edible candies. Even the wood dyes are natural pigments sourced from the earth, plants, or animal byproducts. Boiled walnut crystals make Van Dyke brown, a centuries-old classic wood dye. Bichromate of potash, a bright- orange substance that reacts with the wood's tannin to produce a rich color, is often used on mahogany. Lamp black from Germany — or soot — is used to ebonize furniture, allowing wood grain to show through. "Natural things tend to have a subtleness to them that bring out lusters and quirks of age you can't get with modern finishing products," Peter says. Natural varnishes and dyes must be applied with the right tools, and Peter buys his tapered badger- and squirrel- bristle brushes from England. Goodchild's is one of the few companies in the area that employs French polish, a technique involving multiple layers of hand-applied natural varnish, hours of burnishing to the desired gleam, and a final wax. The method has been around forever, says Peter, but the term was first coined in England around 1820 when ultra high-gloss finishes preferred by the French became popular. French polish can also produce subtle finishes and lusters more suitable for antiques. "It helps make new moldings and carvings look older," says Peter, "and helps match new wood on an antique." Sometimes, weathered or water-damaged furniture can be renewed without stripping. He keeps a 300-year-old chest on display, salvaged from hurricane Katrina floodwaters, which was brought back to life with lots of wax and elbow grease. Times and tastes are changing, and new generations aren't as interested in fine wood and antique furniture. Still, Peter says, "There's a sophistication to traditional interiors, and there will always be a client who gets it — who wants antiques. For me, it has this wonderful sort of charm. Wood has a certain soul to it." Antiques awaiting a new life at Goodchild's