Restoration

At this page, I offer a few examples of restoration I dealt with.

• Boligens Byggeskabe (by Børge Mogensen and Grethe Meyer)
• Fredericia BM 2254 ‘Runner chair’ (by Børge Mogensen)
• Fredericia BM 2431 & 2430 Leather chair and hocker (by Børge Mogensen)
• Fredericia BM 61 Dining chairs (by Børge Mogensen)

Boligens Byggeskabe

General view on the Boligen Byggeskabe in two parts

I bought this Boligens Byggeskabe however from someone who had taken it over from Danish friends. It had been stored for quite a while in a barn. Moreover, it has suffered quite badly in the course of time. Originally, it consisted of (probably) three parts,

– a small part, which is a bookcase (width: 55 cm)
– two broader parts, with doors (in Oregon Pine), 2 drawers.

However, some posts have been broken, the others are shabby, as well as most of the shelves, two flaps are missing and the backsides are badly damaged…

I used one of the broader parts as donor. It enabled me to choose the best parts as shelves and posts. Furthermore, I oiled the posts (in Oregon pine), which improved their impoverished and dry condition considerably. I repainted the shelves and sides in grey, as closely as I could get to the original colour.

Damaged and shabby posts

 

Shabby shelves, the red color beneath this shelf is from one of the drawers

The result (note the reflection of sunbeams)

Constructional detail

Difference between after (left) and before (right)

Still empty

From another angle… Note the brass details which shine beautifully again!

The ensemble, with the BM 2254, the BM 3233, the side tables from Sören Holst and the EJ-11 chair from Erik Jörgensen

Finally: from the remaining elements I constructed a short decorative ladder. Just for fun…

BM 2254 ‘Runner Chair’

The Mogensen BM 2254 Runner Chair that I bought, had been mistreated with teakoil. So as a first step I sanded the chair and then soaped it. Besides I treated the straps with leather grease.

The chair as I bought it. Note the dark colour of the armrests.

After sanding, before soaping

The soaped chair

The result after soap treatment

After this I was not completely satifisfied. The oil had left its marks on the chair and the wood was not completely even in its color. At some places it was considerably darker. Finally, I decided to treat it again. First I sanded the chair again with a very fine grain (400). Then, I put on a very mild oil treatment with a damp cloth. The result is – according to me at least – very convincing. Here are some pictures:

BM 2431 and 2430 Leather Chair and Stool

When I bought this  leather BM 2431 and the accompying 2430, I was prepared for the fact that they were used intensively. But when I first saw them, I was jolted.

After some research I treated them with leather grease. The result was good, the chair improved considerably. Below you see the result:

BM 61 Dining chairs

Recently I bought two BM 61 dining chairs. These chairs were designed by Mogensen in 1957 and were originally produced by P. Lauritsen & Son, later by Fredericia Stolefabrik. I nowhere found information about the difference between the chairs produced by Lauritsen and Fredericia, but – as I figured out – there is a small difference indeed. (If you want to know more about this difference, please contact me). Anyway, my chair turns out to be produced by Fredericia. Since P. Lauritsen was taken over by Fredericia in 1980, it follows my chairs dates after 1980.

The chairs are really beautiful, as you can see. However, they had been treated in the (recent?) past with a semi-transparant lacquer, which make them look darker, as if they are in teak. However, the wood that was used, is oak. Moreover, the lacquer was applied very sloppy (as you can see below). After a period of reflection, I have decided I will remove the lacquer by sanding them (with a very fine grain sanding paper [400]).

First chair done (sanded and treated with oil). Left chair treated, right chair not yet: