In the east of Paris, among the winding streets and dead-end alleys between Bastille and Nation, lies the Faubourg Saint Antoine, the heart and soul of the art of French furniture making.
Here, the very ateliers that once turned out some of the finest furniture of Europe to fill the halls of Versailles and the Louvre are now dedicated to preserving that furniture.
Here one finds cheek by jowls: gilders, bronze-smiths, wood turners, and the few remaining masters of traditional French polish.
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Here I received my training. The atmosphere, redolent with history, serves to preserve the traditions of the craft. Restorers working and trained in this milieu absorb a strong sense of themselves as participants-in and guardians of historical patrimony, and have developed a well-defined and strongly held ethic that guides the restorer in fulfilling these roles.
My understanding of the restorer's ethic informs my approach to my craft.
I believe that any intervention must be guided by reflection, sensibility and absolute respect for the piece of art.
I believe that the soul of an object is more than the sum of its parts. Its original craftsmanship, the materials of construction, the information inherent to its fabrication are all integral to its nature.
But the personality of an object develops through time. And these developments must be respected, not erased.
The furniture restorer must be discreet in execution, involving no irreversible techniques, while preserving as much as possible the past interventions that serve to identify the period and history of the piece.
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