Carving and Turning: With specialist turning lathes and wheels, we restore and recreate traditional patterns. Many of our craftsmen are especially skilled at carving a wide range of different styles, whether repairing a small break on a gilded cresting or carving an entire Sunderland frame.
Fitments: Locks, keys and handles can be fabricated and mounts recast. We often source original period designs from Hatfields’ exclusive 200 year old archive.
Furniture: Using our extensive store of timbers and veneers enables us to better approach the history and integrity of each piece. In order to maintain this integrity, we also hand make many of our own finishes. Each area of damage is treated with the same respect whether it is everyday wear or more serious damage from fire or flooding.
Gilding: We specialize in the traditional method of water gilding on a gesso ground and have wide ranging experience of many techniques, including oil gilding and burnishing as well as oriental gilding on lacquer.
Lacquer: The highly experienced lacquer conservator specializes in the sympathetic treatment of both surface and structural damage. Using traditional methods and materials such as hide glue and rice powder and filling cracks with natural urushi, she also uses modern reversible acrylics.
Lighting: Our skilled team work with antique and contemporary fixtures; from 17th century giltwood to painted steel and aluminum, and from complex glass chandeliers to elegant porcelain lamps. We rewire to current EU and US electrical standards, allowing clients to safely enjoy their lighting fixtures.
Metalwork: Many of our craftsmen have skills in finishing metalwork. Re-brazing, soldering, welding and filling is executed by our experienced foreman. Our finishers transform scratched and damaged surfaces by repatinating and retouching discolorations.
Modern and Contemporary: Hatfields craftsman offer conservation advice on modern and contemporary works of art. One master craftsman specializes in the challenges of preserving modern materials, such as mixed media artefacts often working with complex acrylics and synthetic components.
Picture Frames: The workshops repair and regild period picture frames. We are also commissioned by curators and designers to create frames for their clients’ paintings. Our carvers and guilders were recently commissioned to create a Sunderland frame for a full length portrait by Sir Peter Lely
Upholstery: We have an upholstery workshop in our building with more than four decades of experience in traditional upholstery techniques, often conserving under upholstery and fabrics while maintaining the seat for future generations.
Picture Hanging: We offer a dedicated picture and mirror hanging service. Quality paintings and mirror frames deserve to be appropriately secured to a wall. We hang single objects, such as an Anish Kapoor mirror, or whole collections, in a safe and aesthetically pleasing manner.
Installation: We adapt and fit panelling and architectural interiors, restoring original fittings and creating new woodwork to extend as necessary. We offer a skilled maintenance service for cleaning and conservation, as well as assisting architects and designers with the final install of projects in London and the home counties.
Marquetry and Inlay: The workshops have specialised in this area of conservation since they were first founded in the 1830s and it is a traditional skill of which we remain proud today. We use natural adhesives, both animal and vegetable, to secure lifting surfaces, often injecting glues from beneath so as not to disturb original surfaces
Marble and Stonework: We are fortunate to have two conservators especially skilled at working with stone and marble. They have extensive experience not only at reviving damaged surfaces but also in repairing complex breaks and in preventative procedures in securing cracks and fissures. We often work with specialised materials on antique pietra dura and scagliola table tops.
Finishing: Our finishers are able to revive many original surfaces without stripping back to the bare timber, whether it is a large dining table or a small turned paper stick. They have a wide experience of many different finishes as well as the experience to work with leather and contemporary synthetics.
