DISPLAY CABINET WITH BOWED GLASS SECTIONS – ONE BROKEN AND AWAITING REPAIR!
One problem that is frequently brought to our workshops relates to broken glass – with glass, of course, a common feature of display cabinets, chandeliers, ornate mirrors, tables and occasional tables. All of these are easily damaged, particularly when moved, even if that move is just for cleaning purposes. Sometimes this is just enough to stress a unit and impose impossible strains on its glazing.
The trouble with glass within furniture is that the glass usually lacks any protection against even the smallest impact. Indeed, glass within furniture is normally held in place by a wooden baton that holds the glass securely against the frame of the part of the cabinet concerned and this normally lacks any putty (or other material) to absorb any shock – unlike house doors and windows. It therefore takes very little to shatter glass within cabinets, a factor made even more understandable when you see how extremely thin and delicate is the glass used for quality furniture.
Needless to say, at Snelling Associates, we have been tackling all types of broken glass on furniture for years. In fact, it seems to be an integral part of much of our work! As a consequence, we can undertake most furniture glass repairs and we have a series of excellent glazing contacts able to form even the most unusual glass, so that it will closely match that existing elsewhere within a piece of furniture. So, if you need furniture glass repair in Surrey then do contact us!
As a matter of interest, our area in Surrey was well known for its production of glass. Indeed, during the Middle Ages, the forests around Dorking provided the wood necessary for the charcoal for furnaces, with the local streams providing the energy for saw mills. Silica (one of the main components of glass) is found locally together with potash from the ash of locally grown beech, oak, lime and bracken. This led to the Dorking area having almost a dozen glassworks in the area during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. Sadly, this did not last as King James I forbade the use of wood for furnaces, as he was concerned about de-forestation (and probably the loss of some of his hunting grounds!).
So, with our workshops surrounded by this history we should have a natural affinity with glass!
Well, if not a natural affinity then we certainly have the skill to undertake any work involved in glass and furniture repair in Surrey – whether the piece is antique or contemporary…
Peter Snelling