Portfolio

Below are some of the recent projects that we have completed. Please click on the images to see an enlarged view.

American Open Armchair (Private Collection)

One of a delightful pair of carver chairs, recently restored in our workshop several loose and broken joints were evident, following removal of the seat the frames were reassembled using traditional glue, wood beetle infestations were treated, the original polish was conserved and the seat reupholstered using the original stuffing’s.

 

St Pauls Cathedral- London

A G Podmore & Son were recently involved with the installation of the new chapel of The Knights Bachelor, our involvement with close colleagues Houghton’s of York, ecclesiastical joiners and cabinet makers, tasked us with the final finishing of the solid oak carvings, panelling, seating and columned doorways, this work was carried out in our York works with final polishing on site.

 

Fairfax House- York

Below are examples of some of the furniture pieces that we restored for Fairfax House, York.

Pianos

We specialise in the repolishing and repairing of piano cases both upright and grand, this is an example of a walnut cased Bechstien which has particularly beautiful grain pattern.

 

Regency Rosewood Side Cabinet (Private Collection)

This is an impressive example of fine regency style furniture the delicate rosewood veneers were closely matched to the original and the brass inlays were replaced to complete this rare cabinet bookcase.

 

Architectural Furniture and Fittings

Here is an example of our finishing work to a fine oak staircase recently designed by Francis Johnson and co architects, this solid oak staircase and associated panels, doors and frames were made and installed by our colleagues at Houghtons of York, we were able to pre finish many of the components prior to fitting which achieved a much finer finish on completion. In conjunction with this important clients wishes we were able to recommend and achieve a traditional wax finish in keeping with the original period of the house.

 

Wallace Eagles (Private Estate)

One of our recent projects was to fully restore the Wallace Eagles that had severely deteriorated due to them being located on the gate pillars of a Scottish estate. We were tasked with the job of conserving them so that they could continue to be on display for many more years to come.

Note: These shots show the extent of the wet rot in the core of the carvings once we had removed the years of accumulated paint and parted them. As the timber slowly dried in our controlled environment, severe shrinkage occurred which was then stabilised with new sections, the wet timber removed and treated the remainder, all the new sections were then carved to match and treated with an appropriate exterior finish.

 

Mahogany Bureau Bookcase (Private Collection)

Below are some photos of a mahogany bureau bookcase that we recently restored for a private customer.

 

 

Supreme Court Westminster London

The Ministry of Justice commissioned AG Podmore & Son, via Luke Hughes & Co London to restore the original carved oak benches from the old Middlesex Guildhall Westminster London. This recently restored building is now the home of the new Supreme Court. The original tiered seating was removed to our workshops where they were altered to fit the new scheme under Luke’s superb new design. Great care was taken to maintain the intricate carvings whilst years of incorrect heavy varnish had to be removed, new joints cut to ensure the seating sat uniformly in its modern level aspect. The photos below show the work in progress at our workshop.

The pictures below show the individual pieces from the court, during and before restoration.

The pictures below show the court after our works were finished.

Our works at the court attracted significant interest in the surrounding areas. Two local newspapers reported on our work, links to the relevant articles are shown below.

Yorkshire Post- October 2009

York Press- October 2009

We also feature in a book, cleabrating the re-launch of the Supreme Court 'The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom - History Art Architecture - edited by Chris Miele, published by Merrell. Chapter 5 " Gothic with a difference: Sculpture and decorative arts at the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom" by Peter Cormack.

"Today as part of the refurbishment of the building as the UK supreme court (UKSC), the original courtroom furniture has been removed to be used in Crown courts elsewhere. It was decided however that the ornately carved furniture of the former council chamber should be retained for the new courtroom 1. This entailed the careful dismantling, and in some cases repair,of the carved bench ends and other elements, and their sympathetic adaptation and reconstruction in newly designed furniture units.

Among the council chamber carvings reused in the furnishings for courtroom 1, the most impressive are the three dimensional creatures that serve as finials on some of the bench ends, or as armrests for benches.
Equally vigorous in design and carving are the armrests, either carved with demi-figures of animals (including a hare and a boar) or with complete figures of lions and other predators, their stylised bodies beautifully arched from back to front of the seats,(fig 30) The refurbishment of these animal carvings to fit the new seating,carried out by David Podmore in his Yorkshire workshop, is one of the most successful conservation projects within the conversion of the guildhall to to the UKSC."

Further details of the book can be found on the Merrell Publishing website.

 

Manchester Town Hall

AG Podmore and Son have had ongoing commissions during the last several years by Manchester City Council to perform extensive restoration and conservation work on the city’s magnificent Victorian gothic town hall. This has included restoration of the oak internal doors, panelling, main entrance doors and glazed screens and several important furniture pieces by the Victorian architect Alfred Waterhouse.