Episode 5 The Repair Shop


Episode 5

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Welcome to The Repair Shop,

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where cherished family heirlooms are brought back to life.

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Anything can happen. This is the workshop of dreams.

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Home to furniture restorer Jay Blades.

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Nowadays things are not built to last.

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So we've become part of this throwaway culture.

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It's all about preserving and restoring.

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We bring the old back to new.

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

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I like making things with my hands.

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I love to see how things work and I want to know how things work.

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Whether it's a Rembrandt or somebody's family piece,

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every painting deserves the same.

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Each bringing their own unique set of skills.

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You're about to witness some magic.

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They will resurrect...

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..revive...

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Oh, yes.

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..and rejuvenate treasured possessions and irreplaceable pieces of family history...

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Oh, my goodness me. It looks like it's new.

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..bringing both the objects...

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-Oh!

-Oh, wow!

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

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Thank you.

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Today at The Repair Shop,

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a 19th-century test for Jay's soft- and hard-furnishing skills.

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Most of the time, people wouldn't make a big deal about the frame,

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they would just make a new one.

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But because this has family history to it it's a big deal.

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And furniture restorer Will Kirk has a trio of birds to bring back from

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the brink of extinction.

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The three swallows have been hand-painted.

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So it's a fine balance of cleaning it, and over-cleaning it and losing all

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of that detail, which is what I don't want to do.

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-Hello.

-How are you doing?

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Hi, very well.

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But first through the doors today,

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needlework designer Emily Peacock has a puzzle for ceramicist Kirsten Ramsay to piece together.

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So what have we got here, then?

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Right, I have a jug by a French artist called Jean Lurcat.

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-Oh, wow.

-Do you want me to take that out?

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-Yeah, I might break it some more.

-All right.

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So how did it break?

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It was sitting on a windowsill and there was some drilling going on

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outside and it just slowly danced to the edge of the windowsill and threw

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-itself off.

-Gosh, there's quite a few pieces in here.

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I've kept all the small little pieces.

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Well done.

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You've done absolutely the right thing.

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It's always best to keep as many pieces that you can find

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because they are all helpful.

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-What's this?

-That's the sort of dust.

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THEY LAUGH

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-OK.

-A thousand-piece jigsaw.

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I know I was saying keep the pieces, but, OK.

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Yeah, no, that's actually great.

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So can you tell us anything about the artist who made this, then?

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Yes, he was a man called Jean Lurcat and he lived in the south-west of France.

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He is primarily known for his tapestries, which is where my interest came in.

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So this piece, it really sort of holds a lot of importance.

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Yeah, the value is here.

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-Oh. It's not there?

-No.

-Absolutely.

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It's beautiful. It's got the most lovely glaze on it.

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It's sort of reminiscent of Picasso's ceramics, as well, would you say?

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Yes, well, he was a contemporary and they did spend time together in France.

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Oh, did they? Right.

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Well, leave it with us.

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-Thank you.

-And we'll get back to you as soon as you've worked your magic on it.

-Speak tomorrow, then?

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-Bye.

-Bye-bye. Right, that's a lot of pieces.

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You know, it'll be interesting to see if everything is here.

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I think I'd probably need to do it actually at my workbench.

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Don't forget the envelope with all the dust.

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I am worried because it's terracotta,

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I don't know if that's easy to repair or not.

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But also the glaze has got a great handmade quality to it.

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It doesn't obviously look like a mass-produced piece, so you can see some

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of the terracotta colour coming through the glaze.

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And I just think, wow, that's quite a job.

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And having taken on that job,

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it's now down to Kirsten to see if she can solve this terracotta jigsaw.

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I'm just sort of doing a dry run, really, before I actually put the adhesive on it.

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I do this to make sure I've got all the pieces.

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-Yeah.

-And just kind of check how they go together.

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-Are you missing something?

-Well, there's a few sort of little chipped areas,

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kind of like out of, say, somewhere like there.

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-Oh, right.

-Actually, I think I've got that one there.

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-You've got that little bit there?

-Actually, I'm not sure I've got that one,

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but I've got some of them, so I've kind of being checking in this little box

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of broken bits, really.

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You've been checking those against that?

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Yeah. Because I know it seems slightly fiddly but, actually, if you can find

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one of those bits that goes in there, that's going to save you the time that

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you spend kind of filling it and sanding it and then painting it, so it is

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actually worth doing.

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Well, I've got a bit of a sneeze here, so I won't stand there.

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-I'll move away.

-All right, thanks, Jay.

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For family heirlooms too precious to throw away,

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but too damaged to go on display,

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The Repair Shop team is ready, willing and able to restore them back to

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pride of place.

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What have you got there? That looks nice.

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Will is the man you need to see.

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Karen has a very special jewellery box that needs Will's skills to

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give it a new lease of life.

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It belonged to my grandmother.

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-OK.

-OK. She passed away in 1964.

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-Right.

-It was passed on to my father.

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He passed away in 1999 and I've had it ever since.

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-Do you currently use it for your...?

-I don't use it.

-No?

-Because it's damaged.

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-Oh.

-As you can see.

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THEY LAUGH

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Yeah, it's a bit on the broken side.

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The keyhole is exposed there, but normally there is a little piece that

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fixes in there which covers up the lock, so you wouldn't normally see that.

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And then that is exposed,

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if you slide the base and then that drops down

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exposing the keyhole.

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But that has actually become detached.

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Such a clever box.

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Such a clever little box.

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So, of course, the whole thing looks like a book.

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Like very small books within two bigger books.

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Yeah. It's even got the original key, which I've got there.

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Wow. When I was younger, I loved fiddly boxes and it's really clever.

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Especially with the secret key and the secret panel.

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What else can you tell me about the box?

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Do you know where it was originally from?

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No, I've no idea where it came from originally.

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I don't even know what wood it's made from.

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I'm just looking at the swallows here,

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they look like they've been painted on.

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I mean, you can see on the top here

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it's pretty...pretty scratched.

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It's had a few years of use.

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-Yeah.

-Because she used to use it constantly as a jewellery box.

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I will get to work and see what I can do.

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Lovely, thank you.

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It would mean a lot to me to see it restored to its original beauty.

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It was a treasured possession of my grandmother's,

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and I'd like to be able to keep it in the family,

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-so I'd like to see it restored so that

-I

-can use it.

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I have a feeling that it would have originally been a darker colour.

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Which reminds me,

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I've seen a lot of these similar sort of boxes.

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I think this is Italian origin olive wood.

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Wherever it comes from, this small box has big problems.

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A broken lock, cover and hinge,

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plus a very tired interior.

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Will is going to need some reinforcements, in the shape of clockmaker Steve.

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If you can solder something onto that head,

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the other side of there...

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Hey - see what date that newspaper is.

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As Will digs deeper into the box,

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a fragment of old newspaper reveals itself.

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Well, we thought that it was Italian,

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and that is "Roma".

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-Oh, right.

-Italian.

-Yeah.

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-Bit of Poirot work there...

-Or were you told that(?)

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Yeah, I got that in my earpiece(!)

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No, I knew that this was Italian.

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Reel 'em in, Steve. Reel 'em in.

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Who told you, then?

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I...I just know how old it is, 1920s...

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-How old are you?!

-It's made out of olive wood.

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-Oh, is it?

-Anyway, Steve, if you can get on with that job, I'm going to...

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He's had enough, Steve!

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While Steve and Will are busy on the box,

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Kirsten's terracotta jigsaw puzzle is proving tricky to piece together.

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It's not going quite according to plan at the moment.

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The sticks aren't going together terribly well.

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If you just get, like, a little grain of sand that's on the break edge,

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it just puts the whole joint out.

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The jug's creator, artist Jean Lurcat,

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is better known for his tapestries than his pottery.

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He was born in France in 1892,

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studied alongside Matisse, Cezanne and Renoir,

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and was a contemporary of Pablo Picasso.

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-I can breathe now, yeah?

-No, not yet!

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I'm still sort of moving it around while it's still...

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-Playable?

-Yeah, exactly.

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Because the adhesive hasn't actually gone off yet,

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and it's sort of moving slightly.

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-There's some joins that I'm not entirely happy with.

-Right...

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It's just given, that it's so erm...

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-Broken(?)

-So broken, yeah!

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I've got my hands in my pockets, I'm standing well away.

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-I'm not going to sneeze...

-You're learning, Jay.

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So these little bits,

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obviously, you're going to touch all of this up,

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-where there's cracks and what have you?

-Yeah, I'm going to fill it.

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-Fill it?

-Fill it, and then paint it, hand-paint it.

-Yeah.

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So does it feel cool to be working on

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-a piece of work by a mate of Picasso?

-Yeah, absolutely.

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It's quite cool, isn't it?

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Yeah, it's, erm...it's quite an honour actually, I think.

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Here I've got two different grades of sandpaper -

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it looks like a big jumble, but I kind of know what I've got in there.

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I kind of cut them up small like this, and rolled up,

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so that they're kind of handy to get into nooks and crannies.

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As sad as it might sound, I kind of

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get my favourite bits of sandpaper in here, as well,

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that I keep going back to.

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So how are we doing, me old china plate?

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I'm just starting the painting process, so it's...

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-So the final furlong is there?

-Yeah, it is, actually.

-OK. Cool.

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All of these cracks

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that you've mended and got the jug back together,

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in the end of it, will Emily be able to SEE those cracks?

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-That's a good question, actually...

-You're supposed to say no!

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-Well...

-Come on, help me out.

-Do you know, the thing is,

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it depends really, actually, the pieces that you're working on.

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You know, some pieces you would just get your airbrush out,

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and you could make it completely invisible.

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But I think

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it's about not smothering this piece in paint

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and, actually, I want to keep the restoration to a minimum, really.

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In a way, it's sort of more of a conservation job.

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Just because it's such a lovely piece.

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So she MIGHT see some of the cracks?

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I think so, but she seems to me like someone that would kind of

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rather have an honest restoration

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than a piece that's completely smothered in spray.

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It probably looks absolutely awful to you...

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No, it looks good. Compared to the way it came in... I remember it,

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it was all in bits, you've put it together...

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Yes, you've got this kind of cracks...

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-Don't touch!

-I'm not touching, I'm getting close, though!

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I can never touch anything on this. It's not good.

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Right, how are you doing? The main man to see is Steve.

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The Repair Shop team answer all manner of SOS calls

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for broken family pieces left on the shelf.

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And it's not long before Neville Reid arrives,

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with something that Jay CAN get his hands on.

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Hello. How are we doing?

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Hello.

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-So what have we got here, then?

-The lion chair.

-Lion chair.

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Oh, wow.

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-Is that the face of the lion?

-Yes, when I was little... Right.

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..I used to think that these were lions.

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My family had a house up in the north of Scotland,

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-and this sat outside the bedroom door.

-Right.

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And as a small boy,

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in a house where I wasn't allowed to touch anything at all...

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-Right.

-..when nobody was looking, I used to sit in it.

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And many years later I inherited this.

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And I daren't sit on it, cos it's a little bit rickety.

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It is a bit, yeah. You've got no seat...

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It was not in good condition when I was little.

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Yeah, I don't think this is the original -

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well, this top layer that you've got here...

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-Right.

-..isn't the original.

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-This looks more to be the original.

-Ah... OK.

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I've never noticed that.

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And then, underneath you've got...

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Oh, there we go.

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We've got a signature underneath, does that make any sense to you?

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Reid. Well, Reid's my surname...

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OK. Any idea of where this has come from,

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-or the age of it?

-No, I've no idea

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of the age, or where it came from.

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The only thing, I've always believed

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-that it's been in the family from new.

-From new, you say?

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I've always BELIEVED it was.

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The reason why I'm asking you that

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is because I think this is a 19th-century Italian chair.

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-Do you have any connection to an Italian family...?

-Yes.

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-Do you?

-Yes.

-How far back is that?

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18th, 19th century.

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I'm just getting fur coming up on the back of my neck, super-excited

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to find out if this really is connected to your family from birth.

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Cos that's part of history -

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I shouldn't even be leaning on this, actually,

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this is quite an important chair.

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-Thank you, Jay.

-No problem, you're more than welcome.

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All right? Thank you.

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Jay thinks that there may be an Italian connection,

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which is very exciting

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because we have an Italian connection in the family.

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I'll need to go and do my homework to find out

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whether that matches time-wise...

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I think this one's going to be a real joy to work on.

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Cos it's got a lot of family history added to it.

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So once I've got all of the fabric off,

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then I'll be able to identify where I can open up, and then re-glue.

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Before he can reupholster,

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-Jay has to DE-upholster.

-Here we go.

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And under the old fabric,

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he finds some 19th-century inspiration.

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Wow. You've got the leaf, the vine...

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..all of that detail.

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As you can see, just there is the original colour.

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So it would have been a very vibrant red.

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A lot of people think, in the 19th century,

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people were fearful of colour - we're more fearful of colour NOW.

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Whereas these guys were very brave. And that can just show you there -

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look how bright that is.

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That is beautiful.

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Definitely going to inspire me,

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with regards to the fabric I'm going to choose.

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That allows me to

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go ahead and be bright and be bold.

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With Jay kept busy with the chair,

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Kirsten can crack on undisturbed

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applying finishing touches to the artist's jug.

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I've put the last coat of gloss,

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painted glaze over the restorations.

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I'm now just sort of doing a little bit of polishing up

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where the joins are.

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Well, that looks nice!

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-It looks better than it did.

-Can I touch it?

-Yeah, yeah.

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-Am I allowed?

-Yeah, you're allowed to now.

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-Thank you.

-Yeah, absolutely.

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Cos, actually, one of the lovely things about that piece

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is actually the way it feels, so...

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Does feel nice. So can she hold it by the handle, then?

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-Yeah.

-She can?

-Yeah.

-Can

-I

-hold it by the handle?

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No.

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I thought you was going to say that!

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Now NEARLY safe enough even for Jay to handle,

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the finished jug is ready to be reunited with its owner Emily.

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I'm feeling a little bit nervous about collecting the jug today, because...

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-SHE SIGHS

-..will the cracks show,

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will it be the same jug?

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-Hiya.

-Look at that. Hello.

0:15:400:15:42

You caught us.

0:15:420:15:44

Busy, yeah.

0:15:440:15:45

-Busy at beating Jay.

-How are you doing?

-Yeah, fine.

-Come with me.

0:15:450:15:48

-We've got a visitor...

-Ah! Hi, Emily.

-All right?

0:15:480:15:51

-So do you remember what it looked like when you brought it?

-Yes.

0:15:510:15:54

-It was in an envelope, as well.

-Yeah, it was in lots of different containers, yeah, it was in pieces.

0:15:540:15:58

But you worked your magic on it...

0:15:580:16:01

-Oh...

-..I believe.

0:16:010:16:03

-Well... Come, let's show her! ..we'll find out.

-We've got to show her.

0:16:030:16:06

-Jay, it's actually over there.

-I'm allowed to grab it?

-Well...

0:16:060:16:09

Shall we pop it on there?

0:16:090:16:10

Right there.

0:16:100:16:11

OK...?

0:16:110:16:13

Oh, my God.

0:16:150:16:18

That's incredible!

0:16:180:16:21

-Can I touch it?

-Of course you can, it's your jug!

0:16:210:16:23

Wow!

0:16:250:16:27

I had anxiety dreams about...

0:16:270:16:29

-Oh!

-Do you know what...?

0:16:300:16:32

That's unbelievable!

0:16:320:16:34

-It's emotional.

-I'm glad you like it.

0:16:340:16:36

You should be emotional. Well, it's going to be very,

0:16:360:16:39

very happy in its safe new place now on my mantelpiece.

0:16:390:16:43

-So it's got a new place?

-Yeah, away from the window, away from drilling.

-OK.

0:16:430:16:46

And, yeah, out of leaping distance of the cat, as well.

0:16:460:16:49

So I've thought of all eventualities!

0:16:490:16:51

I actually like... I mean, it's not invisible, but I like that.

0:16:520:16:56

It's history and it adds to the handmade feel of it all, you know?

0:16:560:17:01

Yeah, I mean, I think it would have been very easy to kind of just end up

0:17:010:17:05

over-painting it, really.

0:17:050:17:07

-And it just didn't feel right having met you.

-No.

-And the history,

0:17:070:17:11

it just kind of felt right to sort of do what we call a sympathetic

0:17:110:17:15

-restoration, really.

-Yeah. It's had a few knocks, like all of us.

0:17:150:17:18

-Yeah, just a few.

-Absolutely, yeah.

0:17:180:17:19

I'm absolutely delighted.

0:17:190:17:21

It's not taken anything away at all.

0:17:210:17:23

-It's brilliant.

-Fantastic.

0:17:230:17:25

-Well done, you.

-One happy customer.

-Thank you.

0:17:250:17:27

It's been such a lovely object to work on.

0:17:270:17:30

-She says!

-Thank you.

0:17:300:17:31

I said beforehand that I was worried about the cracks showing.

0:17:340:17:39

And, actually, I've changed my mind about that,

0:17:390:17:41

because it's got a lovely texture to it.

0:17:410:17:44

It's kind of sharing its little knock, and I like that.

0:17:440:17:47

I like that it's not perfect.

0:17:470:17:49

It was a handmade item,

0:17:490:17:50

and you can see another set of hands that's lovingly cared for it

0:17:500:17:55

and put it back together again.

0:17:550:17:56

As one treasured possession leaves the workshop safely back in one piece,

0:18:030:18:08

Jay is in the process of pulling apart the 19th-century lion chair.

0:18:080:18:12

There you go. Most of the time,

0:18:130:18:15

people wouldn't make a big deal about the frame,

0:18:150:18:17

they would just make a new one.

0:18:170:18:19

But because this has family history to it, it's a big deal.

0:18:190:18:23

To help preserve that history, Jay's got a plan.

0:18:230:18:26

-Bit of woodwork?

-Yeah, bit of woodwork!

0:18:260:18:29

And he's calling in a favour from Steve.

0:18:290:18:31

See that name now, that signature just there?

0:18:310:18:34

What I want to do is have a frame round there.

0:18:340:18:39

How about a bit of brass?

0:18:390:18:42

And then, if I were to cut out the inside...

0:18:420:18:45

-Like a plate.

-Yeah, well, I've probably got some brass I can use.

0:18:450:18:49

See, now that's why I came to you.

0:18:490:18:51

Yeah. That will polish up nicely.

0:18:510:18:53

Like, shiny. Like something you put in your clocks.

0:18:530:18:55

-Yeah, exactly.

-Thank you.

0:18:550:18:56

Jay can now turn his attention to reupholstering the seat.

0:19:010:19:04

Woo-hoo-hoo-hoo.

0:19:040:19:06

And inspired by the original 19th-century fabric,

0:19:060:19:09

true to his word, he's gone bold.

0:19:090:19:11

-Wow.

-What do you think?

0:19:110:19:13

I was going to make a suit out of it.

0:19:130:19:14

Do you know what, you would make a suit!

0:19:140:19:17

I would, actually. I love bumblebees.

0:19:170:19:20

So with this frame, what I want to have is the bumblebee dead centre.

0:19:220:19:26

Has that material got moths?

0:19:260:19:28

Yeah, they look like moths, but they're bumblebees.

0:19:280:19:31

I'm telling you, they're bumblebees.

0:19:310:19:32

Don't laugh.

0:19:320:19:34

Oh, look at that! Come on.

0:19:370:19:39

That is special.

0:19:400:19:41

-Do you reckon we ought to lacquer that?

-No. Leave it like that.

0:19:410:19:44

Let it age with the piece.

0:19:440:19:46

-That'll look quite nice.

-Looks proper, though, doesn't it?

0:19:460:19:48

-More than proper!

-Yeah.

-The Queen will be proud of that.

0:19:480:19:51

Now the new seat is almost finished,

0:19:540:19:56

the final stage is to rebuild the frame.

0:19:560:19:58

And Will's been roped in to make sure it will be strong enough for

0:20:000:20:04

owner Neville to sit on for the first time in 50 years.

0:20:040:20:08

We'll put the top in first.

0:20:080:20:10

Seat in second, and then we'll...

0:20:110:20:14

-Fit these in.

-Fit these in last, yeah.

-OK, cool.

0:20:140:20:17

I'm in.

0:20:190:20:20

-Cool.

-Lovely.

0:20:240:20:25

How do you think Neville is going to feel when he gets this back?

0:20:260:20:30

Cor, blimey. I think he's going to feel like a king.

0:20:310:20:35

-He is going to feel like a king.

-It is a throne and, erm...

0:20:350:20:39

..to me it just looks quite regal now.

0:20:390:20:41

-Yeah.

-We've kept a lot of the link towards his old family history.

0:20:410:20:45

-So... Yeah.

-This chair looks really good!

0:20:450:20:48

-I think it looks nice.

-It looks really good.

0:20:480:20:51

Returning to the newly-repaired jewellery box,

0:20:550:20:58

Will's final job is to clean and polish the outside before Karen returns to pick it up.

0:20:580:21:03

But Will's noticed a potential pitfall in his plan.

0:21:030:21:07

My main concern with the top is the three swallows have been hand-painted.

0:21:070:21:13

So it's a fine balance of cleaning it and over-cleaning it and losing

0:21:130:21:16

all of that detail, which is what I don't want to do.

0:21:160:21:18

At the moment, I'm just cleaning around the birds for now.

0:21:200:21:24

Start working my way into the middle.

0:21:240:21:26

And then just sort of

0:21:260:21:28

lightly brushing over the birds.

0:21:280:21:30

And then, if I feel that any of the paint is beginning to come off,

0:21:310:21:35

then I'll stop and find another way of cleaning it.

0:21:350:21:39

-Hey.

-Hi, there.

0:21:410:21:43

Hello.

0:21:430:21:45

So, before you have a look, I just wanted to say,

0:21:450:21:49

I started cleaning the box.

0:21:490:21:51

-Yeah.

-And I cleaned the border around the top.

0:21:510:21:56

I wasn't too sure or not to clean the centre,

0:21:560:22:00

where the birds were, because I was worried about removing the birds and everything else.

0:22:000:22:05

But I gave it a go.

0:22:050:22:07

Oh, wow.

0:22:090:22:11

I'm flabbergasted.

0:22:120:22:13

-Yeah?

-Yeah, it's absolutely lovely, yeah, it's fantastic.

0:22:130:22:16

I'm really pleased with that, yeah.

0:22:160:22:19

-You can actually see them now.

-You can see them.

0:22:190:22:21

I did wonder whether they might just disappear if you tried polishing it.

0:22:210:22:24

It's beautiful.

0:22:240:22:25

But it gets better, it gets better.

0:22:250:22:27

That goes down, I'll let you unlock.

0:22:270:22:31

And it doesn't fall off.

0:22:310:22:32

And it doesn't fall off. Well, the top's secure, so that's good.

0:22:320:22:36

-Oh, wow.

-There we are.

0:22:380:22:39

Oh, that's brilliant.

0:22:390:22:41

Interestingly enough,

0:22:410:22:42

on the inside there's some old newspaper and I was trying to work

0:22:420:22:46

out how old this was, where it came from.

0:22:460:22:49

-Yeah.

-I thought it was Italian...

-Right.

0:22:490:22:52

..olive wood, 1920s.

0:22:520:22:55

I actually found a little piece of paper and I was thinking,

0:22:550:22:57

"Is this Italian?" Right in the middle it says "Roma". So, obviously...

0:22:570:23:02

-So it is Italian.

-Yeah.

-OK.

0:23:020:23:04

I thought I'd keep that there, just for a keepsake.

0:23:040:23:07

That is gorgeous, it's beautiful.

0:23:070:23:10

I'm really pleased. Thank you so much.

0:23:100:23:12

I can see a lot of work's got into that.

0:23:120:23:14

Thank you, that is lovely.

0:23:140:23:16

It's far exceeded anything I could imagine.

0:23:160:23:19

I'm going to put it on my dressing table, put jewellery in it

0:23:190:23:22

and hopefully I'm going to be able to give it to one of my children.

0:23:220:23:25

Back in the workshop,

0:23:300:23:31

Jay is giving another Repair Shop team effort its final polish.

0:23:310:23:36

-That looks absolutely amazing.

-It does look nice, doesn't it?

0:23:360:23:39

Steve, do you want to have a look at your handiwork, mate?

0:23:400:23:42

-Yeah, is it all finished?

-I've just got to tidy it up, dust it off a bit.

0:23:420:23:46

So there's your moth.

0:23:460:23:48

-The moth chair.

-The moth chair!

0:23:500:23:53

-Fantastic.

-We've got another moth.

0:23:530:23:56

Wow.

0:23:560:23:58

-Underneath there.

-That's really good.

0:23:580:24:01

Well done, Steve.

0:24:010:24:02

That works in really well, doesn't it?

0:24:020:24:04

-Yeah.

-That's a transformation.

0:24:040:24:06

That is a real transformation, yeah.

0:24:060:24:07

-Definitely.

-He can sit on it now, anyway,

0:24:070:24:09

-that's the main thing, isn't it?

-He'll be really pleased with that.

0:24:090:24:12

Am I allowed to sit on the chair?

0:24:120:24:14

No, no, no, not on this one.

0:24:140:24:15

-Why?

-He's got to be the first one to sit on it.

0:24:150:24:18

-What?

-Yeah.

-Yeah, it's a nice touch.

0:24:180:24:20

That's the way it goes, it's his chair, isn't it?

0:24:200:24:22

You're such a liar!

0:24:220:24:23

Don't say that you haven't done this work and you haven't made sure

0:24:230:24:27

that it's not going to fall to pieces?

0:24:270:24:29

-That would be funny!

-It would not be funny, Steve, it wouldn't be funny.

0:24:290:24:34

What you've got to remember is me and you stuck this together, so it's going to be strong, yeah?

0:24:340:24:38

-That's right.

-So I have every faith...

-It was a trick question.

0:24:380:24:41

I have every faith in the glue, the craftsmanship,

0:24:410:24:44

so when he sits on there, he's going to feel really cool.

0:24:440:24:47

-Well done.

-Yeah?

-You've done a great job.

0:24:470:24:49

-All three of us done a good job.

-All three of us.

-Mine was very small.

0:24:490:24:52

Shall we have a joint pat on the back? I'll pat you and you pat me.

0:24:520:24:55

Who's patting me?

0:24:560:24:58

-You joker!

-Well done, Jay.

0:24:590:25:01

Cheers, lads.

0:25:010:25:02

The lion chair is ready to be restored to pride of place

0:25:040:25:07

in the home of its owner Neville.

0:25:070:25:10

How are we doing, Neville?

0:25:100:25:12

-Very well, thank you.

-You all right?

0:25:120:25:14

-Good morning, Jay.

-Good morning.

0:25:140:25:16

Well, I won't keep you in suspense any more.

0:25:160:25:18

So, here we go.

0:25:180:25:20

Oh, my goodness, wow!

0:25:220:25:24

It's amazing.

0:25:240:25:25

What gave you the idea of the moth?

0:25:250:25:28

-The moth... Steve, Steve...

-It was very moth-eaten,

0:25:280:25:30

before it was very moth-eaten.

0:25:300:25:32

Steve... Steve must have had a word with you because Steve thinks it's a moth

0:25:320:25:35

-but it's a bumblebee, actually.

-OK.

0:25:350:25:37

The reason why I used the bumblebee is cos the two fabrics that

0:25:370:25:41

came off had a heavy reference to flowers.

0:25:410:25:43

-Right.

-It was a case of using something that pollinates both flowers.

0:25:430:25:47

And it's still red.

0:25:470:25:48

And it's still red. It has to be red.

0:25:480:25:50

-It has to be red.

-And if you remember rightly, we had underneath

0:25:500:25:53

it, your...

0:25:530:25:55

..family name.

0:25:560:25:58

-Oh, yes.

-So made a bit of a feature of it.

0:25:580:26:02

Steve's made us a lovely frame, just to show it off.

0:26:020:26:04

-Wonderful.

-Because you didn't know it was there originally, did you?

0:26:040:26:07

-I didn't know it was there.

-So now you can't miss it, really, right?

0:26:070:26:10

-There you are, sir.

-Can I sit on it?

-Yeah.

0:26:100:26:13

My goodness, that brings back memories.

0:26:170:26:19

The last time I sat on this, I was breaking the rules of the house.

0:26:190:26:22

-Breaking the rules?

-As a small boy, I wasn't supposed to touch anything,

0:26:220:26:25

so, fantastic. Very happy.

0:26:250:26:28

I'm happy that you're happy now.

0:26:280:26:30

Let's stick it back up there, then,

0:26:300:26:31

so we can have a little bit of a chinwag.

0:26:310:26:34

Have you found anything out?

0:26:340:26:36

My great-great-great uncle, Francis Reid...

0:26:360:26:39

-Right.

-..went to Italy as a young man and spent the rest of his life there.

0:26:390:26:44

When he died, his wife came home, brought, presumably,

0:26:440:26:48

everything that they owned with her,

0:26:480:26:50

and we can assume, perhaps, we can't prove it,

0:26:500:26:54

that this came home with him from Italy.

0:26:540:26:57

-Wow.

-And that would have been late-19th century.

0:26:570:27:00

And his surname was Reid?

0:27:000:27:02

Reid, yes. And his middle name was Neville,

0:27:020:27:05

so he was Francis Neville Reid.

0:27:050:27:06

No! That's amazing.

0:27:060:27:08

Absolutely priceless.

0:27:080:27:10

I will hand it on to my children,

0:27:100:27:13

and I hope it will go on to their children.

0:27:130:27:15

It's a beautiful chair, and the history behind it is amazing,

0:27:150:27:18

it's been a pleasure to work on it.

0:27:180:27:20

-Thank you for bringing it to The Repair Shop.

-Thank you.

-Thank you, sir.

0:27:200:27:23

I'm absolutely delighted with the chair.

0:27:260:27:29

It's been part of my life...

0:27:290:27:31

all my life and it looks fantastic,

0:27:310:27:34

it feels fantastic and I think they've done a fantastic job.

0:27:340:27:38

I couldn't stop laughing.

0:27:380:27:40

-Why?

-Because of...

0:27:400:27:41

-Come on.

-Neville, when he came

0:27:430:27:47

in and he said, "It's a moth."

0:27:470:27:50

You planted the seed, I bet you, I bet you did!

0:27:500:27:53

That made your day, I know it did.

0:27:550:27:56

But he loved it, didn't he?

0:27:560:27:58

He did love it.

0:27:580:27:59

It's a bumblebee, I can see that now.

0:27:590:28:01

It's a bit quirky. But, actually, I like it.

0:28:010:28:04

It suits the chair. It'll make it a real conversation piece.

0:28:040:28:07

Join us next time,

0:28:120:28:14

as more family treasures are rescued and their cherished memories restored

0:28:140:28:19

in The Repair Shop.

0:28:190:28:21

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