Out of attic corners, basement trunks and closets, relics are being rescued and sent to artisans who skillfully restore their original beauty and usefulness.
Whether it’s a chipped Waterford bowl, a worn Oriental rug or a scarred American Empire mahogany table, restoration of broken treasures is no longer reserved for the wealthy or museums.
Now, a new breed of people is finding it pays to restore keepsakes.
Experts says that’s because more Americans know more about antiques and artwork.
Margarete Gross, secretary/treasurer of the Chicago Area Conservation Group, a group that promotes the preservation and protection of art and historical objects, adds that the average person has become more aware of which household items warrant preservation. “We went through all the plastics of the 1950s and 1960s and now we realize the good stuff is the stuff that lasts,” says Gross. “And why not take care of it?”
As an occupation, the field of conservation is growing at such a rate that educational institutions are starting to offer training. “Twenty years ago, it was rare if a college offered conservation as part of the regular curriculum. Now, it’s becoming a lot more common,” says Gross, citing the conservation programs at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and the Getty Institute in California.
Following is a list of artisans who are noted for their conservation skills. Their selection was based on recommendations by auction houses, interior designers, dealers and their peers.
Antique lighting
Stephen Harper, owner of Shades of Yesteryear Antique Lighting, restores, rewires, polishes, replates and does general repairs on lamps, chandeliers, floor lamps and sconces. His specialty is electric and gas lighting made before 1930. He also sells restored fixtures and glass lamp shades. Prices start at $25 an hour to polish a brass lamp to around $400 to restore and polish a three-armed chandelier. 315 N. Lott Blvd., Gibson City, Ill. 60936; 217-784-4655. Customers can bring lamps to him at the Sandwich Antiques Market in Sandwich, Ill.
Books
Scott Kellar of Scott K. Kellar Bookbinding & Conservation does book repair and conservation, ranging from the repair of a broken book cover to washing and deacidifying the pages of a book to remove dirt and harmful acids. He’s been in business for 20 years and works with family heirlooms, antique dealers and institutions. Minimum price is $50 for a slipcase, a cloth-covered box that protects the book, to $2,000 for complete page-by-page cleaning, binding and protective slipcase. 2650 W. Montrose Ave.; 312-478-2825. Hours: 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, or by appointment.
John Pofelski of Resurrection Book & Paper Conservation works with rare dust jackets, books and documents. Previously a conservator for 36 years with R.R. Donnelley Co., Pofelski has restored the dust jackets from first-edition books by Edgar Rice Burroughs, F. Scott Fitzgerald and Arthur Conan Doyle. He also works on family Bibles. Cost typically starts at $100. Free estimates. 330 W. Georgetown Square, 200 A Wood Dale; 708-616-8990. Hours: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. by appointment.
Clocks
“Fine timepieces are like oil paintings that need maintenance,” says Jerry Chaplik, an antiquarian horologist who has worked on clocks that once kept time for English kings. Chaplik specializes in 17th, 18th and 19th Century timepieces and mercury and gas-filled barometers. In business for 30 years, Chaplik apprenticed in London and Nuremberg. He picks up and returns clocks. Chaplik practices what he calls “sympathetic restoration.” If the timepiece was originally made with a hand tool, he will make missing parts with a hand tool; if it was made with a wheel-cutting engine, a tool that cuts gears, he’ll use the more modern equipment. Price depends on type of work done. Jerry Chaplik, P.O. Box 416963, Chicago, Ill. 60641; 312-545-2753. By appointment only.
John Leonard of Niles, Mich., repairs clocks that are 90 to 125 years old. He will clean, oil and regulate the movements and will refinish the case. He offers a year’s guarantee on his repairs. Cost depends on type of movement and extent of repairs. By appointment. 219-291-6898.
Crystal
The Crystal Cave has four master glasscutters and engravers from Austria, Poland and the Ukraine who work on antique or contemporary crystal or glass. Charges can be as low as $10 for grinding a chip on a piece of glass. Recutting a Lalique or Waterford bowl can cost $45. Free estimates. 1141 Central Ave., Wilmette; 708-251-1160. Hours: 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, and by appointment.
Furniture refinishing
At Ile de France Refinishing and Restoration, Tim Johnson, the resident refinisher and partner in the business, doesn’t mind if a piece of furniture is 20 or 200 years old. Services include French polishing (a technique of applying many layers of shellac by hand), converting armoires into entertainment systems, repairing antique furniture and repairing pieces that have been done in faux finishes. Most common repaired item: A dining room table and chairs requiring stripping, sanding, staining and refinishing. Free estimates. 2300 W. Diversey Ave.; 312-227-2442. Hours: 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily, by appointment.
Furniture (fine antiques)
H. Lanny Green is in his 17th year of restoring fine furniture from the 17th and 18th Centuries. He specializes in inlay work, chinoiserie and bouille, which is brass and tortoise shell inlay. He also reconstructs broken parts. Price depends on work required. Free estimates. 16 W. 710 W. Oak St., Bensenville; 708-766-9063. By appointment only.
Deller Conservation Group Ltd. specializes in the conservation of 15th to 20th Century furniture and wooden artifacts. Services include French polishing, preservation of polychrome surfaces, the conservation of gilded surfaces and repairing carvings, marquetry and inlays. The firm also evaluates the conditions in which a piece is housed for potential damaging effects. Price depends on work involved. 2600 Keslinger Rd., Geneva; 708-232-1708. Hours: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, by appointment.
Hardware
Bob Cagle of B&L Antiques is top drawer when it comes to finding replacement hardware for antique furniture and Early American and Victorian reproductions. His most expensive reproduction pull is $2.95, average is $2. 208 N. Wood St., Washington, Ill. 61571; 309-444-7409. Hours: 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily, by appointment. Cagle also shows at the Sandwich Antiques Market and the Kane County Flea Market in St. Charles.
Marble fireplaces
For 32 years, Roman Marble Co. has provided interior designers, architects, retailers, churches and homeowners with antique marble fireplace mantles, tables, vanities and floors as well as restoration. Prices start at $50 to glue together and polish a small table to several thousand for a larger piece. 120 W. Kinzie St.; 312-337-2217. Hours: 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday.
Marble floors
Mallard Casteel, owner of Mallard Marble, specializes in grinding and refinishing marble floors, vanities and table tops. He also works with granite and French limestone and will fabricate, install and maintain marble tile floors. Minimum daily fee is $350. 2321 N. Bosworth St.; 312-327-2224. Hours: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, by appointment.
Musical instruments
Some Chicago Symphony Orchestra and community symphony members become clients of Stan Schmidt when their violins, violas and cellos show signs of age. Repairs range from simple cracks, which are clamped and reglued, to the complete restoration of a shattered instrument. He also restores original finishes on antique instruments.
Schmidt says much of his repair work this winter has been regluing instruments. Cold temperatures and dry air are hard on wooden instruments, causing the wood to shrink rapidly. Prices are $100 to $5,000. 112 Evergreen St., Elmhurst; 708-833-2708. By appointment only.
Paintings
Marcella Slezak, owner of Fine Arts Conservation, has 25 years of experience as a conservator. She will clean and reline oil paintings and also does surface cleaning, spot-gilding and retouching of icons, which are painted on wood. Minimum rate is $100; final price depends on extent of work. There’s no estimate fee if an item is brought to the studio, but $50, applied to the restoration bill, is charged for traveling to a site. 401 W. Superior St.; 312-787-2902. By appointment only.
Luciano Liparini restores murals and cleans and relines oil paintings on canvas and wood. He started with an apprenticeship in Florence, Italy, at the age of 13. Price depends on damage to be repaired. 823 Main St., Evanston; 708-491-0110. Hours: 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday, by appointment.
Phonographs
Is there a Victor Talking Machine from 1900 in your attic? Ronald Haring has the skill and the parts to repair it. He does functional rebuilding, which means he restores an item to working order. Haring suggests clients ship the motor to him or bring it to his shop in Romeoville, Ill., or to the Sandwich Antiques Market. Prices vary widely, but usually are less than $100. 731 Dexter Ave., Romeoville, Ill. 60441; 815-886-2204, after 6 p.m.
Photographs
Photograph restoration and hand-colorization are specialties of Barbara Dusinberre Laing, owner of Painted Light Photos. She has been restoring photographs for 18 years. Her technique involves copying, which often starts with piecing together a torn photo with linen tape to prepare it for re-photography. She then uses water-based dyes, oil pencils and paints to reinvent or restore the image. Originals are returned in basically the same condition, except for the taping. Prices are $85 to more than $200, depending on the damage and the photo’s size. For hand-coloring, add $30 to $100. Painted Light Photos also offers conservation matting and framing and family trees. 5301 N. Clark St.; 312-728-5301. Hours: 10:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Thursday, 10:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Saturday, or by appointment.
Porcelain and pottery
David Zagorski performs “invisible repair” of china and pottery. “We’re not critics,” he says, explaining that he can repair everything from museum and gallery works to family keepsakes such as Hummels and Lladros. The price for reassembly ranges from $25 at $50. His special skill, and where the real expense is involved, is hand-painting and gold-leafing the reassembled pieces, to reproduce all the tiny details disrupted by a break. Painting starts at $50 and gold-leafing prices start at $75. 910 S. Lombard St., Oak Park; 708-383-7210. Hours: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday, by appointment.
Broken Art Restoration is a 14-year-old firm that repairs antique and contemporary porcelain decorative objects. The company also restores objects of marble, ivory, ceramic, wood, metal and stone. Owners William and Michelle Marhoefer repair cracks and chips as well. They are known for accurately matching colors, surface textures and glazes. Minimum charge of $40. Free estimates. 1841 W. Chicago Ave.; 312-226-8200. Hours: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, by appointment.
Quilts
If you have an antique quilt you want carefully laundered and line-dried, Fran Woodruff of Evanston is the person to call. Charge for laundering most quilts is $35. She also sews on new bindings and uses vintage fabrics to replace torn quilt pieces. For $30, she’ll put a “sleeve” on a quilt so it can be hung for display. She will not restuff an entire quilt. If repairs are minor, the average price is $40 to $50. Major repairs can cost $400. Free estimates. By appointment, 708-864-8653.
Radios
Tom Dawson of Dawson’s Antiques has 25 years of experience restoring antique radios, phonographs, reed organs, player pianos, nickelodeons, band organs and other types of mechanical musical antiques. The most common object brought to him is “grandpa’s radio, which usually needs 60-year-old wiring replaced,” Dawson says. Rewiring, along with new electronic parts, can cost $150 and up, he says. Dawson also rebuilds radios and refinishes the veneer on cabinets. He attends the Kane County Flea Market and Sandwich Antiques Market, where people bring him items in need of repair. 2216 250th St., Washington, Iowa 52353; 319-653-5043. Hours vary; usually he’s there weekdays noon to 5 p.m. Leave message.
Regilding old frames, resilvering antique mirrors
Armand Lee & Co. Ltd. offers a wide range of conservation, restoration and repair of antique furniture, crystal chandeliers and Coromandle screens. The firm’s specialty is the restoration of antique gilt, ornamented and carved mirror frames and picture frames and the resilvering of framed antique mirrors. Armand & Lee experts can rebuild missing ornamentation, stabilize flaking and lifting paint, blend and tone the new repairs with the old finish. Price depends on the time required. Shop time begins at $60 an hour. 840 N. Milwaukee Ave.; 312-455-1200. Hours: 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday.
Rugs
Maury Bynum, the owner of Textile Conservators, cleans, restores, mounts and repairs Oriental and Navajo rugs. He also repairs holes or burns in valuable draperies. He makes house calls. Free estimates. Minimum charge is $50 and can climb to $50,000. 311 N. Des Plaines Ave., Suite 601; 312-474-9277. By appointment only.
Minasian Oriental Rugs in Evanston has a cleaning and restoration department for kilims and Oriental rugs. Co-owners Carnig and Armen Minasian offer complete restoration, which involves reweaving holes. His artisans can take wool from antique kilims or dye new wool so that it looks old to reweave large holes caused by dry rot or wear. Fringe also can be repaired, and the firm offers hand-washing of rugs.
Silver
Silversmiths since 1907, Gilbertson Clybourn Inc. does silver, gold and brass plating. The most commonly repaired items are silver-plated coffee or tea sets, says Bill Romaniuk, manager of Gilbertson. The company also replates flatware. Fee depends on item, extent of damage and type of metal. Free estimates. 2240 N. Clybourn Ave.; 312-525-8204. Hours: 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday.
Stained glass
David Wixon & Associates duplicates or repairs broken stained glass in residences, churches and offices. Repairs cost $100 to $150 a square foot; new work costs about the same. Firm will also do “modest projects.” Free estimates. 189 Kenilworth Ave., Glen Ellyn; 708-858-7618. By appointment only.
Botti Studio of Architectural Arts Inc. offers restoration of marble, mosaics and ceiling murals. Owners Italo and Chris Botti’s specialty is stained glass repairs for churches, residences and office buildings. The firm is also an ecclesiastical art studio and does museum conservation on paintings and works in marble, mosaic and bronze. Price depends on work involved. Base price is $30 a square foot. “If it is a Louis Sullivan or Frank Lloyd Wright project, price could go up to $500 and $600 a square foot,” Chris says. Free estimates (you can send photos with detailed description for a ballpark estimate). 919 Grove St., Evanston; 708-869-5933. Hours: 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday.
Textiles
“Basically I do all the odd stuff all the other conservators don’t want to deal with,” says conservator Frank Connet, owner of Textile Restoration. That includes cleaning, reweaving and repairing textiles, including ethnographic textiles, such as an Africa kuba cloth, Indonesian ikats and kimonos. But repairing damaged flatweaves, such as Native American rugs, European tapestries or kilims, is his speciality. Connet offers clients two approaches. One is total restoration, in which he rebuilds holes caused by dry rot or burns. The other is conservation, in which he might take a tapestry, create a mount to support the textile, then frame or encase it in plexiglass to prevent further damage. Minimum fee of $50 for a small slit or hole; price can rise to $2,000 for major repairs. Connet makes house calls. Estimates are free within city limits; if he has to travel outside the city, the estimate fee depends on the distance. By appointment, 312-338-1739.
Wicker
The Collected Works is a 22-year-old company owned by Janice and Dennis Madsen. The firm focuses on repairing antique and vintage wicker. This includes structural work, painting, reweaving and applying natural finishes. Average cost of cleaning, priming and painting a rocker is $85. 1405 Lake Ave., Wilmette, 708-251-6898. Hours: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.
Works on paper
Graphic Conservation Co. repairs and restores art on paper, including art prints, books, documents, marriage certificates, movie posters, even baseball cards. Common problems that are easily doctored are tears and adhesive tape stains. In business for 12 years, partners William P. Crusius and Robert Weinberg are both fellows (the highest degree of membership, denoting peer recognition and experience) of the American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works. Will accept items sent by mail. Hourly rate is $90. 329 W. 18th St., Suite 701; 312-738-2657. Hours: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Walk-ins welcomed, or call for appointment.
Where to go for assistance
The Chicago Area Conservation Group publishes a directory of members which can be helpful in locating local conservators.
For the current directory or to reserve the updated listing due out in May, send $3 to: Margarete Gross, Harold Washington Library Center, Art Information Center, 400 S. State St., Chicago, Ill. 60605.
If you believe you have an unusual conservation problem, you can contact the American Institute for Conservation, 1717 K St. NW, Suite 301, Washington, D.C. 20006; or call 202-452-9545.
The institute, an organization of conservators, educators, archivists and curators, offers a free referral service and a free booklet, “Guidelines for Selecting a Conservator.” The booklet outlines questions and procedures to consider before embarking on a restoration project.
Send a self-addressed, stamped business envelope for the booklet.
