The entire table was mapped out & each piece of the ivory was coded, labelled A-H, therefore A1 - A100, B1 - B115 etc. Because the ivory was either already buckled or cupped during removal, the ivory pieces had to be put in par boiling distilled water and then be flattened in wooden cauls. Each and every piece was pressed and left to dry for a week.

The entire table was mapped out & each piece of the ivory was coded, labelled A-H, therefore A1 - A100, B1 - B115 etc. Because the ivory was either already buckled or cupped during removal, the ivory pieces had to be put in par boiling distilled water and then be flattened in wooden cauls. Each and every piece was pressed and left to dry for a week.

Showing some of the areas of ivory re-laid. The ivory going down in sections, generally working on opposite sides of the top. The ivory at this time has already been backed on acid free paper to bring up to the correct thickness, and then placed between Plexiglas cauls to enable removal. The joints have been brought together but because this shrinks the overall size of each section, some pieces had to be patched to expand the veneer overall. This would be done by cutting pieces in but by making them look like a natural split not a straight cut patch.

Showing a repair work to the substrate prior to relaying ivory veneers. Plexiglas cauls allowed for the checking of veneer to insure that it didn’t move during clamping up.

A large section of veneer going down the wooden hand clamps, extreme left & right. These clamps which were custom made for a previous project proved invaluable for this particular project as they have such a deep reach.

The base and pedestal, the ivory had to be completely removed from the pedestal due again to splitting and also previous poorly executed restoration.

Re-gluing the ivory onto one side of the pedestal, ivory is glued, taped on and clamped with flexible birch plywood and many clamps, one of the hardest aspects of this restoration.

The pedestal relayed successfully. A patch can be seen just before the upper moulding, carefully cut in and the natural split extended into it, to help it blend in. The photograph also shows part of the new saddle which was made from a piece of oak which was formally from an old church pew. This replaced the very poor work of the previous saddle repair.

The finished table: By carefully relaying the ivory, removing the gaps between the splits and replacing poor patching has resulted in a table that has kept its original character and that is as incredible as the day it was built some 230 years ago.

Note: all ivory used in this restoration project came from old stocks of ivory ,pre CITES convention.