Carving report restoration of 1735 richard bridge pipe organ

Laurent Robert
Wood carver and Cabinet Maker
info@laurentrobert-carving.com
Introduction
In 1735 Richard Bridge built his masterpiece organ for Christ Church Spitalfields. Despite the
near derelict condition of the building by the mid-twentieth century, the organ and its
casework, although in need of restoration had survived, a testament to the skills and talents of
the Georgian craftsmen. Thanks to the perseverance and unwavering commitment of the
Friends of Christ Church Spitalfields and William Drake, the organ was restored to its original
splendour and grace, ensuring its legacy for generations to come.
The following report is a review of the restoration process of the organ casework, detailing the
step by step process of restoring the pipe shades, hats, carved serpentine panels and
mouldings, the friezes and the carved flats. This work was undertaken by Laurent Robert at the
William Drake organ building workshop over a period of eighteen months. It was a unique
experience to participate in the restoration of the organ and a privilege to walk behind the steps
of those great builders to whom we dedicate our gratitude.

Carving Restoration report of the Richard Bridge organ-case 1735 at Christ Church Spitalfields
Restored and written by Laurent Robert
Carved serpentine cornices
with pipe shades
Tower caps
Pipe shades
Cushion and tassels
Flat inverted pipe
shades
Carved serpentine
panels
Cornices, friezes, soffit
Laurent Robert 2015
1

Crown, Cushion, Tassel
Above the central tower, the
crown bordered with ermine is sitting on a cushion from
where four tassels are suspended from each corner.
The square based pedestal is ogee-shaped and supports
the regalia.
Five Black-
tipped-tails (5)
and a tassel (1)
were made new
in lime wood.
5
1
1
Laurent Robert 2015
2

Tower caps cornices
Dismantling of the hats, finding and gathering the pieces
The fragmented
mouldings were
collected from the
scaffolding.
Sections were found on
the top of the organ
which was covered with
a thick layer of dust.
Other sections were found in a
cardboard box, inside the organ.
All the factors listed below helped
to reinstate the fragments to their
original positions:
-thickness measurements,
-the appearance of the wood,
-sun bleached areas,
-dry aspects, rich deep colour,
-speckles of paint from previous
restorations
-building dust set onto the wood,
-glue seams.
Laurent Robert 20153

Tower caps: fixing and gluing up
clamping device
In order to hold tight and maintain the
pieces to each other, a method of
clamping was designed, making it easy
to deal with curved profiles.
Each section was treated individually, hot hide glue was brushed onto the contact surfaces and were
made good when necessary, 3mm diameter pegs were drilled into position for the pieces to meet
together flush.
Progress of assembling : Treble (right) tower cornice
Laurent Robert 2015
4

Progress of assembling : middle tower cornice
Repairs of return mouldings
The middle tower cornice retains all the original sections of mouldings.

Progress of assembling : Bass(left) tower cornice, carving
The mahogany in use for
repairs was sourced from
a piece of Georgian
furniture which gave the
possibility to select the
matching grain of the
organ case.
Waterleaf motifs were
carved linking up with the
original one. Straight runs
of moulding were made
for the sides of the hat by
using moulding planes.
Cornices are held in place
with blocks and brass
screws, gaps were sealed
using band strips of
canvas and hide glue.

Bass tower Treble tower
Note the
positioning of (B
and T) pipe
shades in
relation to the
stiles.
B T
1
Laurent Robert 2015
7

Richard Bridge would have planned the manufacturing of the front pipes in their locations. The
joiners/cabinet makers built the organ case, the decorated carvings were made separately by carvers to
fit the cabinet work.
As pointed out on page 7, the pipe shades (in all three towers) were fixed skewed onto their stiles
(upright). By removing the pipe shades away from the hats and uprights, here is what was noticed :
-the width of the carvings were narrower at their top and wider at their base.
-the paint and varnish finishes left onto the uprights indicated how skewed the carvings were
when fixed into their original positions.
-the back side of the carvings were left as bare wood opposed to their decorated side which were
coated by many layers of paint, this had an effect onto how the carvings dried in the church.
Looking at the designing of the case which did not include the necessary space for the carvings leaving
the carvers no other choice than to adapt to the situation by nailing the carvings in how we see it now.
As a result, tensions in the wood were created leading to the carvings to break apart (see 1), also the
organ builders would have had limited space to lift the front pipes in and out into each tower for gilding
and voicing purposes.
Condition of the pipe shades (page 3,8,9,10,11,12,13,14)
Laurent Robert 2015
8

Trial test prior of paint stripping
Paint stripping method
Here are the middle tower
pipe shades shown as an
example of how the lime
wood pierced work was
treated, after selecting the
glue joints to treat just
before paint removal.
Strips of tape (A) were applied in order to delimitate where the
poultice stripper would take effect (10 or 15 mm away from seam). 5
mm of stripping paste was built up then sealed with a protective film
(B) and left untouched until the paint started to melt.
A
B
The excesses of paint (C) were
removed using hard bristle
brushes and water (with
neutraliser)
C
Laurent Robert 2015
9

1
2 3
4
5
6
7
8
9 a
1
2
3
5 9
4
7
6
a
8
Pipe shades of middle tower, preparation for reassembly

Pipe shades of middle tower, preparation for reassembly
The carved lime wood is a least 284 years old, as is the
glue used for joining the boards together. By
construction, the hats were more stable and less likely to
change in size or shape like the pipe shades did; for their
reassembly, templates were made and copied from each
hat cross section. This ensured a good starting point in
the reconstruction of the pierced work.
The pieces were assembled loosely without any
adhesive, the gaps were measured and filled with lime
wood veneer made of various thicknesses.
Small pegs were fabricated then drilled into the edges of
the joints, making the repositioning of the pieces
steadier.
Animal hide glue (pearl glue) was left to soak in water,
then heated for use, the surfaces were first moistened
before being glued and fastened with sturdy strings.
Wedges of various sizes were used to regulate the
tensions of the joints. Pieces of leather were placed
around the joints to form contact points and to protect
the carving. Final adjustments happened on the
scaffolding when presenting the pipe shades in their
towers. Making adjustments from scaffolding

Middle tower pipe shades (side right)
a
7
65
4
3
2
1
b
a
b
c
c
d
d
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Looking from inside
Laurent Robert 2015
12

7
6
8
8
7
6
5
4
4
5
3
3
2
2
1 1
Middle tower pipe shades (side left)

Treble tower pipe shades (right side)
3
3
4
4
5
5
6
2
6
1
1
2
c
d
a
c
d
b
b
a
Looking from inside

Treble(right) tower pipe shades (side left)
d
c
d
a
c
e
e
a
Looking from inside

Bass(left) tower pipe shades (right side)
a 3
3
1
1
2
2
a
2’
c
b
b
1’
c
2’ 1’
front back
Laurent Robert 2015
16

Carved serpentine cornices, bass and treble
These cornices are made of mahogany, acanthus
leaves are carved into the ogees, pictures left and
below, are showing the various stages when gluing
the sections back together. Rosette ornaments are
used throughout the Church: under the arcades
ceilings and organ gallery.
Bass serpentine (left)
Treble serpentine (right)
Laurent Robert 2015
17

Serpentine pipe shades Treble side (right)
1
2
1 2
3
3
The 3 pieces of carvings are of lime wood ( 1,2,3) they
were found on the roof of the organ, laying in the dust.
One of the fragments (3) presented a rosette flower as
an ornamental feature, the edges were angled, nail holes
were visible. I located the position of (3) by searching for
nail holes and tide lines on the upper casework where
the serpentines are fixed. Items ( 1,2,3) were then
labelled for reconstruction in workshop.
4
5
6 7
67
5
5,6,7 were fixed and positioned onto their serpentine fixing boards, (2) was added then (3) was held in place with
nails allowing (4) to be designed and carved.
Lime wood pipe shade

Serpentine pipe shades Bass side (left)
With the reconstruction of the treble serpentine pipe shade completed, a drawing was copied from the
treble side, then a mirror image drawing was made allowing for the making of the missing winding part
(bass) of the pipe shade.
Winding part of the pipe shade

Flat inverted pipe shades, Bass (left)
1
The pipe shades are lime wood and the groundwork serpentine panels onto which they are fixed
(square nails) are mahogany . The thickness of the pipe shades is a third of the serpentine panels.
Structural and atmospheric conditions combined with the two situations mentioned above causing
the pipe shades to split.
Once the panels were glued back in place, the scrolling acanthus foliage carvings were reassembled
using strips of veneer to compensate for wood shrinkage, the panels (2) were used as clamping
supports, the back of the carvings (1) were primed with hide glue onto which a layer of canvas was
applied.
(1)(2)
Square nail

Flat inverted pipe shades, Treble (right)
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
In chronological order from 1 to 9
Laurent Robert 2015
21

Carved Serpentine panels, description (pages 23,24)
The panels can be divided into three groups:
- Two knotted ribbons ending with a pair of tassels: (tulip buds, wheat ears (2,4) ,
closed and open pea pods (1), leaves (2,4,1)).
- Two bouquets of flowers, one has a rose (1) as a central element: (lily buds (5,3),
wheat ears (5,3) pea pods (1,2), acanthus leaves (5,3), sunflower (7,8), open and
closed pea pods (1,2)).
- A musical trophy: ( violin (6), bass recorder, baroque trumpet (5), oboe (7)).
The serpentine panels are representing the floral and musical taste of 1735. One
can admire this through the eyes of the carvers who captured
a scene. The presence of nature, delicately arranged, is materialized into
bouquets of flowers and ribbons, in the middle lays a musical trophy, the
harmony of forms and sounds are combined.
Laurent Robert 2015
22

Serpentine panel, Treble (right)
8
2
1
3
5 6 7
4
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
Laurent Robert 2015
23

Serpentine panel, Bass
9.
1. 2.
3. 4. 5.
6.
a.
8.7.
7.
6.
5.
4.
3.
2.
1.8.
9.
a.
Serpentine panel Bass (left)

d
d
1
1
Middle section
g
g
New carved waterleaf cornice Fixing of treble cornice
Repair of frieze
a
b
m
j
s

Middle section includes:
(a) cornice (page 25) (b) soffit (page 27) (c) frieze (page 28,29) (d) corbels (page 25)
A waterleaf carved cornice of mahogany (a) is projecting the shape of the full horizontal cross-section of the
double serpentine organ case. Below each tower (bass and treble) are two winged cherub heads(d) looking
across the church. An acanthus carved cul-de-lampe (d) placed on the same level as the cherubs forms the base
of the middle tower. Underneath the serpentine carved cornice are fixed a pair of roses embellishing the soffit
(b). A carved rinceaux frieze work (c) runs from the cherubs towards the cul-de-lampe. Bordering the top of the
frieze stands an acanthus carved ogee moulding alternating with scallop shells, the combined ornaments crown
the corbels.
Description
Cornices are made of layers of thick veneer which were then carved. On the bass side (left) a section was
missing (m). A solid piece of mahogany (a) was selected, carved and reinstated. The curved multi-layered
cornices were then glued again. For the treble (right) serpentine cornice, wooden blocks (j) were cut to shape
in the church, and used as clamping tools to glue the veneer. Strips of linen were soaked in glue then applied
onto the back of the cornices (s) for strengthening.
Two small sections of frieze (g) were repaired in the church, the longest sections (page 28,29) were restored in
workshop using the same methods as described in page 11.
Repairing cornices and friezes, page 25,28,29
Laurent Robert 2015
26

Soffit, above the organ console
Looking up from where the
organist sits on the bench,
one can notice that part of a
flower and its new sprig are
missing.
The bell shaped flower was
carved out of lime wood in
situ , the rest of the foliages
were completed in this way as
well.
After applying the new elements
back onto the soffit area, the
painters decorated the repairs.
Laurent Robert 2015
27

Middle section, Frieze, Treble (right)
3
86
7
4
2
5
1
81
2
3
4 5
6
7

Middle section, Frieze, Bass (left)
41
2
6
5
3
2
1
4
3
65

Crown, Cushion, Tassel ....................................................................................................... 2
Tower caps cornices............................................................................................................ 3
Tower caps: fixing and gluing up......................................................................................... 4
Condition of the pipe shades............................................................................................. 8
Paint stripping method....................................................................................................... 9
Pipe shades of middle tower, preparation for reassembly................................................. 10,11
Middle tower pipe shades (side right)................................................................................ 12
Treble (right) tower pipe shades (side left)........................................................................ 15
Bass tower and Treble tower /before and after................................................................. 7
Progress of assembling : Bass (left) tower cornice, carving
Middle tower pipe shades (side left).................................................................................. 13
Progress of assembling : middle tower cornice................................................................... 5
............................................. 6
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Treble tower pipe shades (right side)................................................................................. 14
Laurent Robert 2015

Serpentine pipe shades Bass side (left)............................................................................... 19
Serpentine pipe shades Treble side (right).......................................................................... 18
Flat inverted pipe shades, Bass (left)................................................................................... 20
Flat inverted pipe shades, Treble (right)............................................................................. 21
Serpentine panel, Treble (right).......................................................................................... 23
Serpentine panel, Bass (left)................................................................................................ 24
Carved Serpentine panels, description............................................................................... 22
Carved serpentine cornices, bass and treble....................................................................... 17
Middle section..................................................................................................................... 26,25
Soffit, above the organ console........................................................................................... 27
Middle section, Frieze, Treble (right)................................................................................... 28
Middle section, Frieze, Bass (left)........................................................................................ 29
Bass (left) tower pipe shades (side right)............................................................................ 16
Laurent Robert 2015

Carving report restoration of 1735 richard bridge pipe organ

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