02x03 - 18th-Century Timepiece

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Welcome to The Repair Shop,

where cherished family heirlooms are
brought back to life...

This is the workshop of dreams.

..home to furniture restorer
Jay Blades.

Nowadays, everybody spends a fortune
on stuff that, once it's broken,

they just bin it. But everybody has
something that means too much to be

thrown away, and that's
where we come in.

Working alongside Jay will be some
of the country's leading

craftspeople...

Every piece has its own story.

It's amazing to think that some of
my work becomes part of that story.

I've always played with things, I've
always repaired things,

and I just love it. There is a real
pleasure in bringing people's pieces

back to life again.

..each with their own
unique set of skills.

Right tool for the right job.
They will resurrect,

revive... I'm warm, man!
..and rejuvenate...

treasured possessions and
irreplaceable pieces of family

history... Wow, she's fantastic!

..bringing both the objects...

Oh! This is what I remember.

..and the memories that they hold...
Wow! ..back to life.

Oh, my God!

In The Repair Shop today,

an antique clock that's had a
mysterious accident...

This is either an earthquake or a
poltergeist.

Right, well, it must have been a
really angry one, because this looks

absolutely battered. ..and a badly
damaged painting tests Lucia to the

limit. This is a big job,

and I've got a lot of work cut out
with this one.

It's quite a big tear.

First into The Repair Shop today are
Cherith and Simon Hathenthwait.

They're here with a fragile
heirloom in need of some serious

attention from silversmith and
metals expert, Brenton West.

Hello, how are we doing? I'm Jay.
Fine, thanks. Cherith. Simon.
I'm Brenton.

So, what have we got in the bag?
This is a mirror that was given to
me when I was eight

by my nana, who gave me it, saying
that her auntie

was a nurse, and she knew I wanted
to be a nurse at eight... Right.

..so I got the mirror.
But then, when I was ten,

I broke the mirror
and I daren't tell her.

And unfortunately, when I qualified
as a nurse... Yeah.

..which is the whole reason I got
it, my nan died,

so she never knew it was broken, so
in a way I'm glad she didn't know...

Yeah. ..but now's my chance to get
it repaired.

So you kept it secret that it was
broken?

I never told anybody that it was
broken. So how did you feel when you
broke it? Heartbroken.

It's not something you can just nip
out and get another one

from the shop, is it? No.

So the painting on the back, is that
anything to do with the family or is

that...? I've no idea. I did try to
research the name on the...

And what did you learn from that? I
couldn't even read it, to be honest.

Oh, right. OK.
LAUGHTER

That is someone's signature on
there, isn't it? It is, yeah.

So, once we've repaired this, what's
going to happen with the mirror?

My daughter is a nurse,

so it'd be really lovely to pass it
on to her as a nurse. OK.

So you've kept the nursing in the
family, then. Yeah. OK. Yeah.

All right. You can do it?

I think so. So, leave it with us and
we'll get it sorted.

Is that all right?
Wonderful. Thank you.

Thank you for bringing it in.

Before he can start
to repair the handle,

Brenton needs to establish what
kind of metal he's dealing with.

If this is white metal, which is a
sort of cast zinc,

if you heat it up, it just melts
and...

just disappears, so this
would have to be glued.

I'm hoping it's brass, because it'll
make it a much better repair.

If it's gold underneath,
then we know it's brass.

If it's white underneath, then we
have to start to worry.

And it certainly looks
gold-coloured to me.

I'm quite happy that
is a piece of brass.

The difficult bit is going to be

getting the painting out
and the mirror out,

because I cannot heat this up with
those in there,

cos they'll just break.

Next to arrive at The Repair Shop is
Joanna Edwards from Hampshire.

Hello, I'm Steve. I'm Joanna.
Hiya. It's a bit heavy, I'm afraid.

OK, that's all right. She's hoping
that horologist Steve Fletcher can

repair a treasured timepiece that's
had a rather puzzling mishap.

Right.

Gosh, this really is falling apart,
isn't it? Yes.
SHE LAUGHS

Right, this is, um,

a very nice clock.

Thank you. Why is it in this
condition now?

I woke up one morning at six o'clock
to the most horrendous crash,

and it was going,
"Bing, bing, bing, bing!"

And I thought, "Oh, my God," I
jumped out of bed, rushed down,

and there was my clock
on a tile floor...

Oh, gosh. ..smashed to pieces.

Right, OK. How did it fall down?

Well, it was on this chest,

and my husband came rushing down and
he saw this little wiggly line going

across the dust
that the feet had made.

And we looked at it and thought,
"There must have been an earth
tremor." Oh!

The other alternative...

is that we have a family
poltergeist.
LAUGHTER

It must be the first
poltergeist-damaged clock that I've

seen. Well...
LAUGHTER

I mean, this dates back to around
about the, sort of,

late 18th century.

Made by this very important maker,
Josiah Emery...

Yes. ..of London.

So it is a very nice clock.

What's the history of this clock?

Well, I know it belonged to my
grandmother,

because I remember it
in their dining room

when I was a small child, and then
my mother inherited it,

and for years it was in their house.

She loved the tick of it,

and I feel a bit the same.

I feel the tick of a clock is the
heartbeat of a house.

Absolutely. And I would like to hear
it again.

Right, OK, well, if you'd like to
leave it with me,

we'll get it all working as it
should be and then we'll give you

your heartbeat back. That would be
just so wonderful.

Thank you very much. Thank you.
OK, bye-bye. Right. Bye-bye now.

When I woke up that morning and
heard the crash and found the clock

on the floor, I was devastated.

I was the custodian of this clock,
and I felt I'd let the family down.

So I shall be very happy when it
ticks again.

That should just come out now.

There we go.

Oh, we've got this nice verge
escapement here.

This is what gives it the
characteristic tick,

the heartbeat that Joanna was
talking about.

The dial might not be original, but
the mechanism is all original.

It is a genuine Josiah Emery.

I'll know more once I take it apart.

Josiah Emery was a renowned
clockmaker in the 18th century.

His visionary work
was widely admired.

He even made timepieces
for King George III.

On prestigious clocks such as this,

it was common for preceding
horologists to document their work.

I can see on here some repair marks.

There's May 1976.

There's 1888.

And November 17.

So that's either 100 years
or 200 years ago.

So the next step is to start
stripping the mechanism down.

Many of the items that arrive
through the doors of The Repair Shop

are examples of outstanding

craftsmanship in need
of an expert eye.

Next to arrive is a work of art that
might stretch painting conservator

Lucia's highly honed talents.

Hello.
Hello. Mr Guthrie, Mrs Guthrie.

I'm Neil. I'm Lucia, hi, paintings
conservator.

You have a painting for us today.
I do indeed. Lovely.

OK.

Ooh! Ooh! And there we have it.

Wow, it's damaged, very damaged.

It is. A very large tear.

What happened to this?

Dare you tell me?
I do dare tell you.

It hangs on a wall very close to
where I sit.

I have a modified chair, because I'm
quite arthritic,

and it has a latch that makes it

recline, and the latch keeps
slipping.

The chair goes into the lampshade,

the shade goes into the picture, and
I'm sitting there, going...

Oh, no!

What can you tell me about the
painting?

Well, it's... Fog on the Thames, I
can see it's called.

Yeah, it's Edwin Fletcher.

We think about 1900.

Well, it's quite beautiful.

1900, yeah, that sort of figures,
from the technique.

And, obviously, it's a pea-souper.

Where did you get the painting from?

My dad bought it. We saw it in a
shop in Folkestone in about 1960.

It would have been in my parents'
house from the '60s,

right through until my mum had to go
into an old folk's home... Yeah.

..and she gave it to me then, so
I've had it for, what, 20 years,

something like that? So there's a
long family history there.

Absolutely.
And it means a lot to you.

It certainly does. Yeah.
It's quite a big tear.

Yeah. It's going to be quite
difficult to repair that.

This flaking was obviously
going on before the tear.

Do you know why that happened?

I suspect because my dad will have
put an electric heater in...

Ah, OK.

..underneath where it was. So that
causes the canvas to expand and

contract, and this is why you get
the flaking.

In terms of progress
on what we need to do,

I will start by protecting this
damaged paint,

and then I'll treat the tear.

If you're happy to leave it with me,
I'll get on with it.

I certainly am. Thank you.
Marvellous. Thank you, thank you.

I've got a lot of work
cut out with this one.

It's quite a big tear.

This is heat damage.

There's a lot of little tiny
blisters of paint.

Most damage is done by humans.

The best thing you can do if you've
got a painting, hang it on the wall.

Keep it away from heat, so over no
radiators or fires,

no lights anywhere near them.

No direct sunlight.

This is a big job.

We'll see. We'll see if I can get it

back into play and fixed.

Clockmaker Steve has taken on an
18th-century clock with an

impressive pedigree.
It took a tumble,

and as a result needs extensive

repairs to its mechanism,
casing and dial.

This is most certainly not
a solo project.

Are you bringing me a gift, Steve?
I am, yes. Wow!

Oh, wow! Goodness!

First port of call is ceramic
restorer Kirsten...

I would suggest, actually, a
coloured fill on that.

OK, that would be great.
Yeah, I could do that.

...while woodworker Will is going to
attend to the clock's damaged case.

I've got a little job here for you.
What on earth has happened there?

Yeah, so it's either an earthquake
or a poltergeist.

Right, well, it must have been a
really angry one,

because this looks absolutely
battered.

It is in such poor condition.

Leave it with me. OK, cool.

Cheers, Steve. Cheers.

This is a huge job.

There are massive cracks going
inside the structure there.

Scratches to the veneer.

Missing veneer, loose veneer.

And that's it.

He says! There's lots of work to be
doing, though.

Lots of work needing to be done.

Now Steve can address the area that
took the majority of the impact -

the frame that held the clock's
glass, known as the bezel.

So, at the moment, I'm just trying

to figure out the best way of
straightening the dents in

this bezel. I need to get a glass
fitted into this bezel,

and the glass will be circular.

So I've got to make a perfect
circle.

Not sure how I'm going to do that at
the moment.

I'm just scoring a circle, so that
will give me something to work on.

It's a long way out.

Metals expert Brenton is working on

an old hand mirror
with a broken handle.

But before he can piece it back
together, he needs to take it all

apart. Now I've established this is
brass and I need to get this lovely

porcelain thing out of here, because
I cannot heat this up.

It is quite loose now, so I think
I'm going to give it a little go and

see if that will pop out
of there.

There we go, look at that.

Oh, it's even got some nice
writing on there.

It's got, in script,

"Madame de Crequy," which is
obviously a French name.

Some extra digging reveals that the
name on the porcelain is also the

subject of the portrait.

The Marquise de Crequy was an
18th-century aristocrat and woman of

letters who wrote about court life
from the reign of Louis XIV

through to Napoleon.

Now that the Marquise is
safely out of harm's way,

Brenton can reattach
the broken handle.

I've got to get this lined up, so
that when I solder this,

this is at the right angle, it's not
moved that way or that way.

So what I'm going to do, I've put my

solder paste on the joint.

I'm just going to heat it up till
the solder paste melts.

It's important to heat it evenly so
that you don't heat one bit up more

than the rest of it and make it

twist or go out of shape.

Fingers crossed, that's done.

Right, I've soldered this back on
here now. It's nice and strong.

And this bit here is brass.

This bit was gold-leafed,
so I'm now going to apply some size

to this and then
some gold leaf to it.

Size is a type of adhesive used to
attach gold leaf to a surface.

Once the liquid is applied, it has
to be left until it becomes tacky.

I've got a sheet of gold leaf there.
I'm going to put this

mirror down on the gold leaf and
pick it up,

like...that.

Then I'm going to turn it over...

and then, with a brush,

I'm going to very gently work this
into the mirror.

So we're just really gently dabbing
it on, and it will stick to the

size, where the size is, and
wherever there isn't any size,

the gold leaf just falls away.

Across the workshop, Lucia is having
to delve deep into her conservator's

box of tricks to tackle the
heat-damaged and badly ripped

pea-souper painting.

I'm securing the paint along the
edges of the very long tear that we

saw. I'm using isinglass.

It looks like plastic.
It's actually fish glue.

It's very compatible with the

adhesive that's been used to
prepare the canvas originally.

I'm using a heated spatula at quite
a low temperature.

The idea is, the warmness of the
glue starts to soften with that

lifting paint. And hopefully,

the lifting paint will flatten and
reattach itself to the canvas.

The adhesive also softens the
threads that have been stretched,

so I'll be able to push those back
through to the back of the tear.

This is a piece of nylon gossamer,

so the patch goes over the tear.

It's a very light patch, but
actually very strong.

For the next stage of
the painting's revival,

Lucia turns to
another of her own talents.

She must now paint her own repairs
to blend in seamlessly with the

original artist's work.

I'm just doing the
first stage of retouching,

and what I'm doing is knocking out
the white filler

that I've put in. So I'm putting in,
basically, a base coat,

and I'm actually using watercolour.

The artist's palette is actually a
fairly narrow palette of colours.

So the colour mix for this palette
will be earth colours.

There's a lot of yellow ochre in
here, a lot of lead white.

This bluey-greeny colour down here

will be Prussian blue
and yellow ochre.

There's actually no green in here.

So what I'm actually doing with the
base coat is very basic,

mixing up a yellow ochre with a

little bit of titanium white just to
make it a shade lighter.

You really are working with the
painter,

and working out how they've worked.

It's really fantastic
to be able to do that.

Steve is using a three-pronged
attack to get a beloved but badly

damaged clock back in business.

I'm very happy with the way that has
worked out, actually.

That would be good for a
good number of years,

until the next
poltergeist comes along.

This is an almighty task,

and with the 200-year-old mechanism
completely dismantled,

there's no turning back now.

This clock's come up really well.

I've put it in the clock-cleaning
fluid and taken it out,

and then I've scrubbed up every
individual piece.

I do like to see a clock like this
looking bright and shiny,

the way that it would have been
when it was brand-new.

I've popped a new main spring
into the barrel...

and I've got a new line
to pop on as well.

The new line is a steel cord which
transfers power from the main spring

to the clock's wheels.

So I've now got Joanna's clock

ticking and...

striking beautifully.

After hours of painstaking
fine brushwork,

a repaired and revived painting of a
Thames pea-souper is beginning to

emerge from the fog.

So, how are you getting on with
Neil's painting?

Hi, Jay. You all right? Yeah, good.
It's a long process.

It's a very bad tear.

But you've fixed that. Look at that!
I've actually just patched it.

You've put a patch on the back.
Yeah, you can see it, it's sealed
on to that tear to hold it together.

And then this bit, what's going on
here then? There's quite a lot of
damage, though, isn't there?

A lot of damage. Somebody has had a
go at retouching.

And, in actual fact, this white
here, it's a bit difficult to see in

this light, but this white here is

actually the sun coming
through this murkiness,

this smog of the pea-souper. Right.
And that was actually covered up.

Ah! So it's a lot more, sort of,
there's a lot more going on in that
area.

I get it. That's quite cool, man.
You've got a fair bit to do, haven't
you? Yeah, quite a bit to do.

So you're going to get rid of all of
this, blend it all in, like you do?

This is a daylight light.

You can see it casts a light across
the surface of the painting.

So that's why this is all really
pronounced,

because this light is picking it up.
OK. So you're seeing it in a very...

So when you take that away, I won't
see all of that?

Well, you'll probably
see some of it!
LAUGHTER

Right, well I'm going to leave you.
I'm not a wizardess. All right.

At the metalwork bench, Brenton is
returning the ceramic portrait to

the delicate brass hand mirror.

So that's Madame de Crequy sealed
back into her frame.

I'm really happy.
This has come out really well,

and it's back to
its original self again.

The mirror had been hidden away,
unused for decades.

Restored to its former glory,

it's now ready to be reunited with
its owner, Cherith, and her husband,

Simon. Hi. Hi. All right? So, remind
me what you brought me.

I brought you a porcelain mirror
with a handle that I broke when I

was ten. Well, we've
had a little go at it,

and we're pretty pleased with what's
happened. I hope you are as well.

Oh, my Lord!
SHE LAUGHS

Oh, wow!

Gosh, it looks so different!

I'm frightened of picking it up now,
with the handle.

It's like bringing back memories of
when I was ten.

It's absolutely beautiful.

You forget what it looks like whole,

because I've looked at it for so
many years in pieces.

So, what would your grandmother
think now?

Aww! I looked after it really well!
LAUGHTER

It's gorgeous.
You've done such a wonderful job.

Thank you. I'm glad she never knew
that it was broken.

She knows now.
She does know now, yeah.
LAUGHTER

I think she'll be pleased, though,
that we got it fixed.
She knows it's fixed.

We like to put smiles on people's
faces. Well, you certainly did that.

Good. Thank you ever so much. No
problem at all.

OK, there you go. Thank you.

Absolutely thrilled with the mirror.

Quite nostalgic.

It's been in that box, broken,
for 40 years...

well, more than 40 years.

It's also nice, as well, knowing
that it's repaired and that it'll go

to the next nurse in our family.

Lucia's giving a final once-over to
her restoration of the damaged

painting, but before it can be

returned, there's still
one piece missing.

Right, frame's all done.
Great, let's have a look.

And I've lined it as well.

Oh, fantastic, brilliant!

How's that? Yeah, that's saved me a
job. That's great.

Let's see if it fits.

Look at that. Yeah, yeah.
You see how tight a fit it is now?

Ah! Hardly any space.

With the painting now back snug in
its frame,

it's ready to take pride of place in
the home of its owners,

Neil and Viv.

Hello. Hello, hi. Lucia, you've got
some visitors here.

Hi, Viv, lovely to see you again.
Hello. Welcome back.

Nice to see you again. Hello, Neil,
nice to see you. OK, are you ready?

Oh, my goodness! O-o-oh! Oh!

Stunning! My goodness!

Beautiful. I am absolutely stunned
at how that has repaired.

I just can't see it. I mean...
I think...

I was expecting to see some sort of
a dent there or something.

Well, in actual fact,

when I'd done the moisture treatment
and pulled all the threads of the

canvas together, they all kind of
went back together again, really...

Well, it's had a surface clean.
I like the rowing boat now.

It's just so much clearer.
It is so much clearer,

and the oar and the little waves
that come in there.

So where's it going to sit in the
house when it goes back?

We're arguing about that, because if
I put it back in the same place,

there's a possibility that it might
get the same rip again. Oh, no! No!
LAUGHTER

So, who won the argument then?
Where's it going? I did!

Oh, you... Say no more!
So where is it going, then?
LAUGHTER

It's going back in its original
spot.

The painting is on the wall and
there should be no problem

whatsoever. Right, OK. OK.
Well, it's a great painting.

Hope you enjoy it for years to come.
Oh, yeah. Yeah. I've missed it.

I can't say "thank you" enough.
Yeah, I've really missed it.

You've done a wonderful job.
Well, thank you. Well, I'll wrap

this up for you, and then you can
take it away. Yeah.

Lucia's done a brilliant job, you
know, really has.

I'm really thrilled, I really am.

It's better than I
hoped it would be,

and I can't wait to get it home.

The Repair Shop squad has joined

forces to rescue a notable
timepiece.

The beloved clock is nearing the end
of its long road to recovery.

Hey! Oh! Doesn't that look good?
It's very good, isn't it?

Are you pleased with it? I'm really
pleased with it.

So your task now is to get that in
there,

and then another happy customer.

Hopefully. Hopefully.
LAUGHTER

Just one final push to get this

distinguished piece
ready for collection.

I'm now going to fit the bezel on,

and hopefully it'll be...

all OK now.
If I can find the right hole.
HE CHUCKLES

Someone was just looking
down on me right then.

Thank you!

Good. OK, let's pop it into the
case.

There we are.

The Repair Shop's work is complete,

and not a moment too soon.

Joanna is back, ready for the
familiar tick of her dear old clock.

Hi, Joanna. Hello.

Nice to see you again.
It's lovely to see you.

I'm really looking forward to seeing
that. Right, OK, I won't keep you in
suspense any longer.

Please don't. Right, there we go.

Wow!

That's amazing!

That's incredible! Look at that.

Oh, my friend.

Thank you so, so much.

You're very, very welcome.

It's been a real pleasure to do.

CLOCK TICKS

Sounds wonderful.
That's, that's the sound I want.

Thank you very much.

It is just a lovely-sounding tick.

I think so. And Will's done an awful
lot to this case.

Somebody's done an awful lot to it!
LAUGHTER

Will, can you come over?

It is amazing.

Pleased? Delighted.

More than delighted!

I almost want Steve to take it all
apart again on the inside so you can

see the amazing job that he's done.
It looks beautiful inside.

Can I have a look? Yes. Let me just
swivel it round for you.

Oh, gosh, wow!

Goodness me. That's fantastic.

Thank you so much.
Thank you both very much.

OK... Thank you very much.

I don't think it's ever looked so
good. Certainly not in my lifetime.

It's an old friend being given a
really, really good face-lift.

I feel my house has got its
heartbeat back now.

Join us in The Repair Shop
next time,

as the team tackles more
extraordinary items that have seen

better days,

and gives them a new lease of life.

That's fantastic!
LAUGHTER