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This is a place where the visitors are confronted with their search for a personal touch and where they have an opportunity to get acquainted with a skilled expert, who has turned durability and tradition into a personal passion.
I hope this will become a valued and rich source of inspiration and knowledge. Please Leave comments and enjoy your visit. Please note text and pictures on this blog are Copyright protected.

Sunday 30 September 2012

RESTORATION OF WOODEN ORNAMENTS | RECONSTRUCTION OF CARVED ORNAMENTAL DETAIL | Restauration Listed Buildings

Restoration workshop, Patrick Damiaens
Patrick Damiaens

RESTORATION and RECONSTRUCTION of WOODCARVINGS and ORNAMENTS.











Restoring church furniture, panelling, pulpits, confessionals, ... is often necessary for the preservation of our patrimony.
It is our duty to preserve this furniture, some of which is hundreds of years old, for future generations. 

Sometimes fragments of the sculpture are missing or the woodcarving is damaged in such a way that the need arises to replace it. If the broken-off fragments of the woodcarving were preserved, we are able to reattach these in an appropriate manner. If the ornaments are missing completely, we will take into consideration the shape of the ornament or of the remnants, if any are still present. 


For the more complex cases (this often involves sculptures) a plasticine model is created to visually aid the woodcarver during his work.
After thorough research of the remaining woodcarving, its style, character and the plane of fracture we are able to form a clear image of the ornament and the way it originally looked.
As the restoration progresses, alterations to the carving are kept to a minimum. The objective is to make sure the woodcarving stays as close to its original state as possible. Broken pieces of the carving are glued back together again. Missing pieces are cut to shape.


Reconstruction of Liege Style Furniture
Important furniture that still has remnants of carvings or from which certain pieces are missing can be fully restored thanks to historical research on the basis of pictures, documents, markings and the character of the carving itself. We always pay close attention to ensure that the authentic character of the period piece is preserved.
This way we prevent that valuable pieces are lost forever and help them find back their previous lustre.
Reconstruction of wooden sculptures

The woodcarving workshop of Patrick Damiaens is also specialized in restoring en reconstructing wooden sculptures. It sometimes happens that a pulpit, confessional or other piece of church furniture is missing part of its ornamentation or carvings.



This often involves sculptures in the form of limbs (e.g. fingers). By studying the character of the sculpture and possibly creating a plasticine model we are able to form an image of the original woodcarving.

Reconstruction of carved Wall-Paneling

A new dove for a pulpit (St-Anna church  Bruges)
When restoring a sculpture, a lot of attention is paid to detail, in order to make sure that the reconstructed sculpture blends in perfectly with its surroundings.  Where possible, the same wood is used as that of the piece of furniture, the sculpture or the surroundings, to ensure a proper finish (colour,…) of the restored sculpture. This way it becomes one with its surroundings again.

 
                           For more information: Patrick damiaens

                             Patrick Damiaens is Member of Pearls of Craftsmanship


Wooden mantelpiece with ornaments | Carved mantelpiece | Mantelpiece with fine wood carvings



Patrick Damiaens 

- Ornamental woodcarver -

CUSTOM WOOD CARVED FIREPLACES







The design and crafting according to traditional methods of all woodcarvings and ornaments for mantelpieces and trumeaus, traditional and classical models or personal designs.
Seeing as every carved mantelpiece is unique and customized and every decorative implementation of ornaments and woodcarvings varies, each house or room is given an exclusive  look.


Exclusive, unique and attractive period pieces with woodcarvings. One of the many possibilities is to provide the decorative marble or wooden mantelpiece with a trumeau or wooden top-piece. These top-pieces give the room an enhanced personalized look. Top-pieces can be crafted in any desired style of any era. ( French, Liège, English or any Neo-style…)

Handcrafted ornaments and decorations for mantelpieces made by the workshop of Patrick Damiaens revive a sense of nostalgia with a modest approach, avoiding exaggeration in the execution.

Custom Carved Mantelpiece


Should you have any special demands or desire a customized design, than the workshop of Patrick Damiaens is at the disposal of people who wish to surround themselves with the highest degree of perfection and taste. We offer the best alternative for the occasionally unsatisfying standard solutions for which, in our modern day consumer society, you have to settle for.

The Workshop of Patrick Damiaens stands for

 -ornaments and woodcarvings for wooden mantelpieces, trumeaus
 -100% custom-made in collaboration with the customer
 -Timeless, attractive and unique designs
 -Natural, quality designs and materials
 -Unique, customized craftsmanship


More information on ornaments for fireplaces:Patrick Damiaens

Patrick Damiaens is Member of Pearls of Craftsmanship




The ROHAN Palace in Strasbourg | CARVED PANELING | 18th century Interiors

Rohan Palace in Strasbourg

PALAIS ROHAN

  Strasbourg - France.
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A blogentry by Patrick Damiaens
Ornamental Woodcarver

Visiting Museums and Castles is Probably the main source of inspiration for the Ornamental Woodcarver.
These are places where the craftsman gets his ideas, he is looking for new challenges and always new unexpected surprises . And even after 25 years of
experience in carving ornaments,  he still has the feeling of learning something new.

E
xploring and studying ,looking at problems and how your colleagues 300 years ago solved them, their knowledge of  tasteful proportions used in the interior decoration and their knowledge of carving techniques.


The ROHAN Palace in Strasbourg

Today we visit the Palais ROHAN in Strasbourg


The Palais Rohan (Rohan Palace) is one of the most important buildings in the city of Strasbourg in Alsace, France. It represents not only the high point of local baroque architecture, according to widespread opinion among art historians, but has also housed three of the most important museums in the city since the end of the 19th century: the Archaeological Museum (Musée archéologique, basement), the Museum of Decorative Arts (Musée des Arts décoratifs, ground floor) and the Museum of Fine Arts (Musée des Beaux-arts, first and second floor).

CARVED PANELING | 18th century Interiors

18th century Interiors | Rohan Palace Strasbourg


The palace was commissioned by Cardinal Armand Gaston Maximilien de Rohan, Bischop of Strasbourg, from the architect Joseph Massol and erected between 1731 and 1742 according to plans by Robert de Cotte. It was built on the site of the former residence of the Bishop, the so-called Palatium, which had been built from 1262 onwards. 




In 1744, Louis XV stayed in the palace, and Marie Antoinette stayed there in 1770. In 1805, 1806 and 1809, Napoléon Bonaparte stayed there and had some of the rooms changed to suit his tastes and those of his wife, Joséphine . In 1810, Napoleon's second wife Marie Louise, Duchess of Parma spent her first night on French soil in the palace.
On August 11, 1944, the building was damaged by English and American
bombs. 
The restoration of the premises was completed in the 1990s.

Carved panelling

CARVED PANELING | 18th century Interiors

The palace is built on a nearly square base which falls away toward the Ill River and is subdivided around a three-part inner court by a gallery. South of that, there is a main wing for the Prince-Archbishop, with its two representative Classic façades, which extends the entire width of the building. 

The most extravagant and overwhelming feature, from the viewpoint of the overall impression, is the façade which faces the Ill, with a small flat terrace with wrought-iron railings extending on both sides before it. The courtyard gate to the cathedral is wide and curved and has a roof with religious sculptures.




The chambers of the Prince-Archbishop, which can be viewed today in nearly their original condition, are divided into the grand appartement (display space, facing the river) and petit appartement (living space, facing the inner court), as in the Palace of Versailles  . On both sides of the suites are the two most spacious rooms of the palace, the dining hall and the library, which both extend over the entire longitudinal axis of the wing. The library also serves as the nave of the castle's very small chapel.


Pictures Patrick Damiaens
https://www.patrickdamiaens.info