Beyond sourcing and selling, we also do a limited amount of restoration work ourselves — specifically riempie re-weaving (the traditional rawhide leather thong seating found on old Cape and Transvaal chairs) and cane seat restoration.
What this involves
Riempie work means stripping out old, worn, or broken leather thongs and hand-weaving a new seat or backrest in the traditional pattern, piece by piece. Cane restoration follows a similar process in woven cane rather than leather. Both are slow, meticulous crafts — there's no shortcut that doesn't show, and a rushed job is often worse than a worn original.
Done selectively
We don't take on this work as an open, general service. Because it takes real time to do properly, we only restore pieces we believe genuinely deserve that time — usually furniture with real age, quality, or history behind it. If you have a piece you think qualifies, get in touch with photos and some background on it, and we'll let you know honestly whether it's something we'd take on.
Pricing
Every piece is different — size, condition, and complexity all affect the time involved — so we quote individually rather than working from a fixed price list. Send us photos and we'll give you an honest estimate.
Interested in having a piece assessed? Get in touch with photos and a bit of the piece's history.