At Snelling Associates we have just completed a most unusual antique restoration! Recently a client brought a sleigh into our Surrey work shop – a Russian sleigh that had lain for many years in one of her barns. It was in a dreadful condition and very much neglected. However, I immediately realised that it was something special and started work to restore it.
You can see the images below of both the sleigh when it first came into my work shop and then the finished item (prior to it being re-uphostered). It looks absolutely fantastic and is now in full working order.
You may ask why I have no images of the upholstered version? Well, I took the sleigh to be reupholstered but the upholsterer thought, like me, that the sleigh was very old and that it almost certainly has historical importance. This was confirmed by the cushioning behind the upholstery, which dated the sleigh to around 1700. So, the re-upholstery may have to be undertaken by a historical specialist in this period.
What is interesting is that my client is a relation of a famous writer of the period. In fact, another great writer, the diarist John Evelyn (1620 – 1710) rented his house to Peter the Great when he came to visit England from 11th January 1698 – 21st April 1698. So, we are all wondering whether the sleigh was perhaps given to John Evelyn by Peter the Great as a present or perhaps was a present for someone else that was left at his house and maybe given to the ancestor of my client. This is a very compelling and rather exciting thought – and one that is now being investigated by a Sotherby’s sleigh specialist.
One thing is for sure and that is that John Evelyn deserved some kind of recompense for renting his house out to Peter the Great, who evidently trashed it! The author Ian Grey in his book ‘Peter the Great in England’ states:
No part of the house escaped damage. All the floors were covered with grease and ink, and three new floors had to be provided. The tiled stoves, locks to the doors, and all the paint work had to be renewed. The curtains, quilts, and bed linen were ‘tore in pieces.’ All the chairs in the house, numbering over fifty, were broken, or had disappeared, probably used to stoke the fires. Three hundred window panes were broken and there were ‘twenty fine pictures very much tore and all frames broke.’ The garden which was Evelyn’s pride was ruined.
I rather suspect that the sleigh was inadequate recompense – although the damage may have been good news for any antique restorers in the area!
The above all rather illustrates the variety of items that I get to restore, which is what makes being an Surrey antique restorations so fulfilling. I simply never know what is going to be brought in next – with a Russian sleigh (possibly owned by Peter the Great) being a fine example.
Of course, if you are looking for an antique restorer in Surrey then do contact me. I always welcome challenging projects and you can see from these images the difference that skilled antique restoration can make.
Peter Snelling