Stunning Rocking Horse Restoration
We love it when a client lets us in on the back story of a piece that is brought in for restoration.
This is the story of a rocking horse we’ve named “Sassy”.
Sassy was originally hand built in the 1950’s by a talented hobbyist woodworker. Self taught, he copied the original from a rocking horse owned by his neighbour. The maker tried to make his horses look as realistic as possible, hand carving the horses body to match the contours seen in a real horse. He only hand-crafted around five of these horses and they were just for family members. Each was a different colour, so they all had an individual personality.
As the years passed she was much loved by the family and after being passed down to our client, came to us looking a bit worse for wear.
We began the restoration in much the same way as we usually do, by pulling her apart! Her aged and failing joints were repaired and then she was sanded. To get that perfectly smooth coat we applied a traditional gesso all over by hand. Next came the paint work to highlight all of the beautiful detailing. She was finished off with a new mane and tail made from real horse hair.
As an added touch our client hand crafted all of the leather work using kangaroo leather – adding her personal touch to this beautiful rocking horse.
She’s now ready for a new generation to love and will surely be enjoyed by many more generations of this family.