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These photographs are of an antique hand carved mirror that needed both repair and restoration.
At some point in the past it had been exposed to water the original gesso had separated from the wood and paint was falling off in chips all over the frame. The bottom rail had also come unglued and the nails had worked loose and was separated from the rest of the frame. The top Acanthus leaf design element had been broken multiple times in the past and needed to be re-attached. The smalled bottom Acanthus leaf had broken off and the piece was lost.
The repair work consisted of re-attaching the bottom rail and top leaf piece. A new bottom leaf piece was carved and attached with a steel backing plate to prevent damage whenever the mirror need to be moved. A small brass brush was used to remove all the loose paint without damaging the underlying wood. The new gesso was put on the these areas. The original gold paint had been in many layers with multiple colors to give an antiqued effect. In restoring the pant this same treatment process was done to match the existing style.