Hendrik Douwes, the 21 year old “konstlakker”, became a member of the St. Lucas Guild as Citizen of the city of Amsterdam on September 5, 1805. This allowed him to practice his craft, which also included the restoration of “chamber canvasses and wall papers”. The craft guilds were dissolved in 1808 by Napoleon; but seven generations later the family tradition is still being continued.
The paintings entrusted to us are carefully restored in our own studio outside of Amsterdam: panels are treated with modern glues and resins; dried and torn canvasses are provided with supporting textiles on specially constructed vacuum tables; yellowed layers of varnish and old overpainting are removed with chemically acceptable solvents and damage is carefully retouched by reversible means. Finally, the restored painting is provided with a thin and durable layer of varnish.
Below you will find some of our case studies that illustrate the various methods/styles of restoration as well as historical artworks we have restored.
