Here at `Ornate Gilt Mirrors`, we can offer a full cleaning and restoration service to any antique or modern Oil Paintings
and any antique Carved wood or `gessoed`* gilt Mirrors and Picture-frames
*(`Gesso` is a special plaster prepared by mixing whiting with size or glue which can then be spread upon a surface to prepare it for painting or gilding ,
or can be used to take casts and re-mould missing sections..)
This beautiful painting above of ` A Flower Girl of Brittany` by J.F.Portaels was on a huge mahogany panel which needed some stabilising
as well as obviously quite a good clean - only after giving my quote for the job did I discover she was worth over £100,000 ...
The above oil on canvas of a hunt was covered in a very disgusting , discoloured varnish which dissolved into a sticky mess ! But the painting cleaned up very well
This superb oil by John Emms of `The Games-keepers Daughter` had a very discoloured layer of varnish
but also we could see that the girls face had been very badly restored previously - way too hard and `old` looking
so on removing the `over-painting` we began to reveal the beautifully sweet and young face Emms had painted and we could restore her far more sympathetically
(..apparently quite a few years later John Emms actually married her ..! )
Below are two `before and after` examples of the restoration we can carry out to antique `gesso` or carved gilt frames and mirrors -
all the `white`areas on the left side pictures were completely missing and were repaired with new gesso,
then either colour matched ( the rococo mirror) or re-gilded to look naturally aged (the Rope and Shelf mirror)
