From a Louis XVI window seat to a broken country chair!

I think it's what I love the most about my job, you never know what will walk through the workshop door. For example this week, firstly a very nice lady arrived with this:

A lovely 19th century French walnut window seat with beautiful carving. But what made it even more interesting for us was the history. We were chatting about how pretty it is, it's likely age and the fact that whilst it is French and Louis XVI in design, it is probably a 19th century piece. The owner said she had an inventory of furniture and when she went home, she would look to see if the stool was on the list.

About two hours later an e-mail arrived from the owner, the stool was on the list described as French 19th century walnut and in 1970 was valued at the princely sum of £35! The seat will be replaced once we have repaired one rail which has split - it is a stunning piece of furniture.

And then the next day another lady arrived with this:

These are the remains of an oak dining chair! Again it was the story behind the chair that was interesting. It is one of a set and unfortunately when the owner moved from the US to England, this one chair arrived in pieces from the shippers - that was 30 years ago. Goodness only knows what happened to it in transit, all four stretchers are missing and all but one of the seat rails are broken. It will take us some time to make the missing pieces, but it will be worth it - at least the dining set will be complete again.