04x20 - Victorian Automaton Tiger

[bunniefuu]

Welcome to The Repair Shop, where
much-loved but broken treasures...

This is amazing. It is absolutely
brilliant. ..are brought back to
life.

Welcome to my universe.
It's pretty marvellous.

Furniture restorer Jay Blades...
It's so nice that we can be part of

that kind of history to just keep
things going. ..and a dream team

of some of the country's
most skilled craftspeople...

I'm having a lot of fun, and
I'm really liking the end result.

Sounds like teamwork.

..bring their talents to bear on
beloved pieces of family history.

Look at that! I'm liking what I see.
It's working. You beauty!

Utilising expertise passed
down the generations...

I'm going to teach you how to do it
the old-fashioned way.

..transforming priceless pieces
of family history...

Oh, my goodness me!

..the Repair Shop team will
resurrect the items...

Oh, gosh! ..the memories...

I'm going to have to hug you now.
..and the stories behind them.

Look at that! Oh, thank you so much.

I can't see it because
of the tears in my eyes!

This is a very emotional job to do,
but incredibly worthwhile.

CHEERING

In The Repair Shop today, how does
a goose make a tiger roar?

I've managed to get hold
of a goose feather.

It's a surprisingly tough material.

While stylophile Laurence
breathes new life into

a fountain pen
that holds precious memories.

A big treat is about to take place
for this pen, because it's not

been filled up for about
70 or 80 years.

So now we're going to put some ink
in it and it'll live again.

The Repair Shop attracts eager
visitors from all over the country,

and today's first is Andrew Winter
from Shaftesbury in Dorset.

Hello. Hello. How we doing?
I'm Andrew. Hi, Andrew.
Nice to meet you. Hello. I'm Jay.

Hello, Jay, nice to meet you.
So you've got a painting for us?
I have a little portrait for you.

A little one? OK.

Lucia Scalisi has been
a conservator of paintings

for over 30 years and has the power
to bring the most faded of artworks

back to life.

So tell us about this painting
and how you've got it.

This is my mum,
Margaret Jean Handley,

as she was then. Really?
Oh, congratulations.

She's very beautiful, isn't she?
Wow! Thank you, yeah.

This was painted by CJ Frost,
who she always told me was her art

master at her school.

So, how old is she here?
Well, I think 17, maybe 18

in that picture. She inherited
this on his death, and this hung

in the stairwell. So, as you came
down from the bedrooms,

down the stairs into the hall,
there would be your mother

as a very young person looking back
at you, which is slightly strange.

Right. And it was only when it
disappeared and the lonely, dusty

shelf was there, you think, "Where
has the picture gone?" "Oh, your
father got fed up with looking at

"me, so I put it in the loft," would
have been the kind of standard
response. Yeah.

And that's where it remained.
So I've never, I haven't seen
this for, like, 35 years.

I'd forgotten it existed.
Really? Mm.

What did you feel when you saw it
in the loft after all those years?

It was quite moving, because
then you remember your childhood.

So all that bubbled
up from the past.

And then of course having
to explain to the four grandchildren

who this person is and how
that fitted into their memory of

grey-haired Nanny. I can see
it's had a little bit of a mishap.

Yeah, I think she's walked

into a door or something.

I could write my name in it.
But, for me, it's fantastic,
because it's in original condition,

so nobody's done anything to it.

When we found it after they died
and we cleared the loft,

there was nothing covering it.

It was just propped up in the loft,
so it's, you know, that awful thing

where people just were... they don't
really conserve them properly.

So I'm sure this should be lovely,
because it's a peacock.

Well, yeah, and these,
the colours that we know

that are in peacock feathers are
sort of reflected throughout the

whole painting, in her shawl
and this sort of peacock turquoise.

It's absolutely gorgeous,
and the background again.

So there's references all the way
through the patterning. No, it's
amazing. I think it's fantastic.

I think you're very fortunate
to have such a beautiful portrait.

And we can't thank you enough
for bringing in. My pleasure.

Yeah, it's going to be a treat.
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you,
Andrew. My pleasure.

To have the painting restored
will be amazing for me,

my brother, the rest of the family,
because we've never seen

it in its true state,
and it is a tangible link

to the past for two generations.

This was, you know, a mother
and a grandmother, and we're quite

lucky, I suppose. Not many people
have got a painting that size

of a relative in existence
that they can, they can pass

on to the next generation.

Now, that is a beautiful painting.
It's very beautiful, yeah, and it's

great that it's in its original
frame. So that's a treat, too.

So, I mean, the most obvious issues
are the damage to the head. Yeah.

So this is all structural
to the canvas as well

as the paint layer. I'll sort this
out before any cleaning takes place.

All right. Sounds like you've got
your work cut out. Let's get this to
your bench, then. OK, great.

OK? Yeah, can't wait.

So, I'm just going to protect
this very damaged area

where the paint is really fractured.

I'm using an acrylic consolidant
just to hold this in place

so that I can actually take
the painting out of the frame.

If I didn't do this, there's a
chance that all this fractured

paint would fall off,

so I just need to secure
this temporarily.

That's it.

I can now put this painting
face down and start working

on the back of it.

As Lucia gets to work
on the back of the canvas,

outside, another visitor.
Mark from Cambridgeshire has brought

along a curious item
for the expert attention

of craftsman David Burville.

How we doing? Hi. I'm Jay. Mark.
Mark. David. Pleased to meet you.
How do you do?

So what have we got in the box,
then?

Well, this is Tiger. Tiger?

He's a 130-year-old automaton

mechanical toy. Wow!

It's been in my family
for about 100 years.

It was originally a gift to my
father's elder brother, my uncle

Michael, in about 1920.

We don't know exactly from whom,
but we think from a wealthy

godmother of his. Right.

My uncle passed it down to my father
and it's been with us ever since I
can remember. Yeah. When I was a

child, I remember him coming out
on special occasions and he'd be

wound up and I would first be kind

of wary of him, because he makes
a low growling noise and he crouches

down on his haunches. Yeah. And then
when he jumps, there are shrieks of

part terror, part delight.

THEY LAUGH

to a young child. Yeah, and
splendid whiskers. Yes, absolutely.

The whiskers have seen better days.
Yeah.

So, does he work at all?

He just about still works,
but if we wind him up,

you'll see him growling, crouching
and maybe, if we're lucky, even

jumping. All right, let's...
Can we wind him up, then?

Can we have a go? Sure.

There we go.

JAY LAUGHS

Whoa!

DAVID LAUGHS

THEY LAUGH

That is smart! He doesn't jump
quite as often or as reliably

as he did. He doesn't growl
really very much any more.

His legs are bent,
his tail is broken.

He's ageing like the rest of us.

How come you want to get it
restored now, then?

Well, my father is in his 90s now
and has looked after and cared

for Tiger for most of his life.

And my father loves to repair
things himself.

Yeah. But I think he recognises
that there's so much involved

in fixing Tiger that it may be even
beyond his considerable skills.

Right. So it means a lot to me to be
able to bring this in for him...

Yeah. ..and I'm sure he'll be
thrilled when it comes back.

Well, thank you for bringing Tiger,
and hopefully we're going to be

able to restore him, get him
growling and jumping again.

So, yeah, thank you. Thank you,
buddy. All right? Thank you.

Thank you. Good to meet you.

Great, isn't he? It is great.

I'm hoping that if the team here
can fix Tiger up, that he'll

work again like he did in his youth
and be able to delight my children,

my sister's children, as he did me
when I was a child and my father

and his brother when they were
children, too.

It does look lifelike, though,
doesn't it? It does, yeah, yeah.
He's got a good set of teeth there.

I wouldn't want to put a finger
anywhere near them.

There's quite a lot of cosmetic
work. We can see here that the

leather has come unglued
from places. Yeah.

The mechanism is obviously
working, but it's slow,

so it's gummed up and it needs
disassembling and cleaning

and that sort of thing. OK.
So, let's get Tiger jumping again.

That's it, yeah. We'll have him
leaping away. All right, let's get
him over to your bench.

This antique toy was made around
1890 by the revered French company

Roullet & Decamps. Founded in 1865,

they specialised in intricate
moving toys, now extremely rare

and highly collectible,

so David is feeling the pressure.

It's always a bit nerve-racking
taking something to

pieces of this age. It's quite
possible that this is the first time

that this mechanism has been out,

so they should just lift away.

So the mechanism appears
to be in working condition,

but it's obviously had quite a lot
of oil put in it over the years,

and that has gone sticky.

And that's slowing
the mechanism down.

Steve, would you mind coming and
having a look at this for me,
please? Just want your opinion.

This is the clockwork tiger. Oh,
right, OK. This is the motor.

It does work, but it's caked in oil.

Yeah, it is, isn't it? I don't think
that's ever been apart in its life.

No. Hopefully you do something
with him. OK, yeah, no problem at
all. Thanks ever so much.

Thank you.

It's so caked with dirt in there,
it's very, very difficult

to see all the components.

There's certainly an awful lot
of wear on one of the bearings

here, and I need to re-bush that.

And I think the rest
is absolutely fine.

I'll put it all in the cleaner,
and once that's done, as long

as it all cleans up,
that'll be fine.

Over at her workbench, art
conservator Lucia is working

on repairing the damage
to the family portrait

that had been hidden away
in an attic for decades.

I'm going to actually do
a little tear repair treatment

on this tear. To stabilise the rip,

Lucia uses a heat seal adhesive,
laminated onto nylon gossamer.

If I turn the painting over,
you'll see that the facing

is still on that patch,

which I did to hold all the paint
together. So the tear now is

actually completely closed up.

Structurally, it's stable,
it's sound, and now I can

start the cleaning process.

Compared to some of the ancient
artworks Lucia has restored,

this painting is relatively modern.

The artist, Cyril James Frost,

painted in the
early to mid 20th century,

exhibiting in the Royal Academy
before he died in 1971.

But because this picture was stored
unprotected in an attic, Lucia

must remove layers of dirt
to reveal the beauty underneath.

I really love cleaning it,
especially when it's so satisfying

because of the contrast
between the before and after.

It's quite dramatic on this one.

There's this beautiful pink
and purple and oranges and yellows

and greens and blues.

I mean, to see these colours
come alive in front of your eyes,

it's just inspirational.

I'm cleaning in the bottom left
corner of the portrait where I know

there are remnants of signature.
And it's a bit curious,

because I'm using an aqueous solvent
here, and whatever's coming

off is water soluble, and as I'm
taking it off, I'm uncovering some

of the feathers of the peacock.
So there's an overpaint in here

that is coming off, but I can't
quite fathom out what's going on.

It's a strange colour.

And it's definitely an overpaint
that isn't oil,

and underneath is this pinky colour.

And I can see the signature.

And it's just dawning on me
what's happening.

Oh, my God!

Her legs have been painted out.
Got a pair of legs here.

This has been painted out at a much
later date with a different paint,

but there's something going on here,
because the legs aren't a mistake,

you know, they're not something
that didn't work in the

actual composition. They work.

And certainly the signature works,
because the signature is right

across the top of them.

So these have been painted
out for some reason.

Could be to do with modesty.

I don't know. It's intriguing.

This is why I do what I do.

This is the really, like, exciting
bit. It doesn't happen all the time,

but it's like, when it does,
it is so thrilling.

Wow!

With the surface now clean, Lucia
can begin to fill in the area

of missing paint.

The area of damage is in quite
an important area of the painting.

Because it's a portrait,
you always look at the face first.

So I'm just going to repair
that, and it just takes

a while to build that up.

I think Andrew will be pleased
when he sees this, because he was

quite upset about the damage
when it occurred.

It means an awful lot. It's not
just a portrait of any woman.

It's his mother.

So I think he'll be, you know, a lot
happier to have this back on in one

piece and know that it's secure.

I'm nearly at the edge now
with this filling, so I'll let

that dry off and then I'm going to
put the first coat of proper varnish

on, and then on top of that
I'll start the retouching

in this area.
So that's the next stage.

Across the workshop, David's earning
his stripes on the automaton tiger.

So I'm just removing
the legs at the moment.

Fortunately, for 130-years-old
screws, they're actually reasonably

loose, so they're coming out nicely.

So we've now got
the exposed metalwork.

My main concerns are where
the legs are actually riveted

on to the shafts.

This one is very loose.

This we've got to sort out.

The problem is with this
that you've got brass

which is very, very old.

If it's under stress, it can crack,

and so we've got to be
a little bit careful.

That's nice and firm now.

That should last many years.

Meanwhile, Steve's trying to put
the spring back in Tiger's step,

unleashing all his clockwork
know-how on the little motor.

This mechanism has come up
really well.

Just, just been dipped in the
cleaner and then brushed through.

So I'm really pleased with that.
The top bearing of the fly...

Um, the actual bearing
is very, very worn.

I need to open up the old pivot hole
just enough so that I can push

this bush in friction-tight,
and then that should help

the tiger to jump.

There's 100 or more years
of wear to the hole,

so maybe this bush will last
for another 100 years.

Good. That's the bushing done, so I
just need to get it all together and

test it and get it over to David.

While Steve works his magic
on the clockwork,

David turns his attention
to the battered body of the tiger.

The body is made out of
papier-mache, but where he attaches

to the wooden body,

it's obviously been, been damaged.

His body has been pulled
away from his, um,

from his base plate.

So we're just tearing off
little pieces at the moment,

and then I'm just putting a bit
of thinned, hot animal glue

on to the paper, just moulding it
round to build up the shape again.

papier-mache was used because,
130 years ago, of course you didn't

have plastic, and papier-mache
does have a little bit

of flex and movement.

So, for something like this,
it was the ideal material, really.

Steve's back, his repair
on the clockwork mechanism complete.

Oh, it looks fantastic!
Yeah, absolutely fantastic.

I'll wind it up and show you.
There's a lot, a lot of power in it

now. I've bushed the top of the fly
as well, so... Yeah. ..it's not
rattling around, but... No, no.

You see how much wind that's
creating? Oh, yeah.

I mean, that is really,
really strong.

That's going to jump a mile.

He's going to be really... Yeah.

Cor, that's incredible. OK.
All right. Thank you, cheers!

But it's not just the tiger's
movement that was an issue.

His once-powerful roar is now
more like a meow,

and David wants to get him
loud and proud again.

I'm going to have a look
at his growling mechanism.

This is effectively a miniature
drum, and in the centre,

this is actually a piece
of feather quill,

and that rubs up against the
governor when the tiger crouches,

causing him to growl,

but, unfortunately,

on this side it's snapped
and it's come loose.

So I'm just going to wet the inside

of the drum skin.

That's just moistened

the glue, and that's released
the old quill from the skin.

I've managed to get hold
of a goose feather.

There should be plenty of material
here to cut the new quill.

It's hollow, but this is
surprisingly tough material.

And then I should be able to cut
a tapered section from that.

I've not done something
like this before.

This is the fascinating thing
that you're learning yourself.

So I'm going to just shave
that down either side to a taper

and then hopefully that's
going to work and we'll get

the tiger roaring again.

It's the moment of truth -
has the tiger got his voice back?

MECHANISM GROWLS

So he's now growling
and he's carrying on in his cycle,

so I'm going to start screwing
his legs back on now.

Meanwhile, outside, another
new assignment is arriving.

Sharon Wilkinson from Enfield,

accompanied by her uncle David,
has brought a precious gift

that needs specialist attention.

How do you do? I'm Kirsten. Nice to
meet you. I'm Sharon. Sharon.

Hello, I'm Laurence.
So, what have you got for us?

My grandfather's fountain pen.

Laurence Oldfield is the fountain
pen expert and historian.

I got it from my grandfather

as the first of his grandchildren
to graduate from university,

and it's a Wyvern pen.

It's embossed into the barrel,
and unfortunately

it's never worked,
but it's a pretty thing

and it was Grandad's,
and he was given it for going

to a very good school.

But he was one of 14 children.
14 children?! Yes.

And education wasn't free
in those days. No.

And so he sort of had to leave
school as soon as he could to start

earning a living. To receive
this pen must have been actually

quite something special. Yes,
I think that's why it was

special to him, and I was
able to fulfil the things

that he wasn't able to do. Yeah.
You know, sort of, off to, to go to

university, and you always want
children and grandchildren to have a

better life than, than you've had,

and I think I had achieved it
as far as he was concerned,

and it was, you know, sort of,
"Well done, Sharon." He was proud of
you, having got that far in your

education. I think so. I think so.
Yeah. You know that, yeah.

The only clever one in the family.
LAUGHTER

Do you know if your grandfather
ever used the pen?

I believe that he did.

My mother remembers it when she was
young, in the sort of late '30s...

OK. Right. ..and being told
not to touch it. Right!

But it hasn't been in use
for some time.

Because a pen of that quality
would have been very special

in those days. Precisely.

Do you know very much about
the Wyvern Pen Company?

I know that they started in,
I think, 1896.

Well, the story starts
with a schoolboy, age 14,

and he really wanted to leave school
and start his own business.

That sounds like Grandad!

His name was David Finburgh.

Later on, his two brothers left
school as well and the three of them

set up this business
and they did very well.

King George VI saw these
and he bought two and was using

a Wyvern pen for many years.

I always write my Christmas cards
with a fountain pen.

I think it's a really nice thing
to do

and it's a special thing to do

and it would be really lovely
because when I write my cards

to his family, he'll be writing
them with me. Yes, yes.

He'll be with you there. Yes. Yes.

So...

..it would just mean so much
to have it working again

and I'd feel then, you know,
that I'd really sort of done

Grandad Harry proud.

It presents a few challenges,
but I'm sure we can

do something useful for you.

Great. That would be wonderful.

Thank you. Yes. Thank you.

I did have a really special
relationship with my grandad

and I really would love to be able
to feel how it used to write

when Grandad had it.

A pen that doesn't work
is no good to anybody. No.

It looks like it's
in quite a sorry state.

Just a few problems with it.

The nib is bent. Gosh, it's really
bent. Very, very spiky and sharp

and it's not going to write
very well. OK.

So, we'll put a new nib in it. Yup.

A gold nib, as it should
have a gold nib... Right.

..in a pen of that quality.
Really? OK.

The lever is floppy... Yep.
..and needs to be tightened up

and the rubber sac needs
to be changed.

The rubber sac contains
the ink. Right.

So, the reservoir or...
It's the reservoir.

OK. So, there's quite
a few bits to...

Quite a few little tasks to do.
Yeah, OK.

Well, it's in the right hands.

The first job in the transformation
of this aged pen

back into an elegant writing tool
is a deep clean.

The ultrasonic tank has got some
cleaning fluid in it

because 70 or 80 years worth
of hardened ink will be inside it

and we need to loosen that.

The next job is to separate
the nib section

from the barrel.

But it's been decades
since the pen was last used

and, as a result,
it's ceased pretty solid.

We're gently warming it, the pen,
all the way around the joint,

to help expand the plastic

and this is the most tricky part
of the whole operation,

in that, if you don't do it right,
it's possible to crack the barrel

and then that pen
is destroyed, essentially.

So, I have to be very careful
at this stage.

Now, we'll see whether it moves.

Yes, it does and it's extracted.

I always like to think of the people
who have used a pen

when I repair it.

It's probably written many letters

and maybe even done
many examinations

and had quite an interesting life,

so that does give me some enjoyment
when I do repairing.

With a missing paint area
filled in on the portrait,

Lucia can begin
to transform the image,

beginning with a coat of varnish.

You can see where the painting
starts to appear,

where the varnish is,
and this is saturating

the surface.

That's lovely. It's a nice,
glossy saturated look.

I'm pleased with that.

Clean this away
and I'll leave that to dry.

I'm at the stage now where I'm going
to start the retouching

of the portrait. I'm going to make
up this flesh colour now

with my dry pigments.

So, if I just test that
and see what happens.

You see, although it looks
quite dark on the palette,

it's fairly pale on the painting.

There are lots of different
types of retouching.

But you can see,
it's a very gradual process

and it's all because I actually
don't want to put too much on there,

so it all adds up to that whole
thing about less is more.

But it's making it fit.

This is haute couture for paintings.

Repairing the 130-year-old
mechanical tiger toy has been

a team affair.

Steve's overhauled the mechanism,

David's restored the growl,

and now Susie's giving him
some finishing touches.

Clean his eyes.

A little bit of dental work as well.

With teeth, growl and prowl
now restored,

the tiger makes his way back
to Cambridgeshire

where Mark is preparing
to present him to his father, David,

for whom Tiger is a precious piece
of family history.

Tiger is important because he's
just about the only toy handed down

from generation to generation.

I must have known him
for about 88 years,

then my children and their
children...

..and the youngest of all is Georgia
and she will no doubt, I hope,

hand Tiger on to her children.

Right, you ready? Yeah.

There he is. Wow.

He feels much more robust, actually.
It doesn't feel as if his top

is about to come away from
his bottom. His legs have been

straightened.
Yeah, he was quite bow-legged.

Do you want to be the winder?

One... Tail's looking much better.
..two, three.

Are you ready? Yeah.

Does he leap?

Oh, that's got real intent.

HE GROWLS

Oh!

HE GROWLS

Oh, it's a good growl.

Much stronger, isn't he? He's got
much more strength in his back legs.

Go on! Yes!

LAUGHTER

The tiger has an extraordinary
ability to charm small people...

..generation after generation

and it's nice to see that
happen again.

He's been rejuvenated, frankly.
It's great.

Back at The Repair Shop, Laurence
is continuing to dismantle

the antique fountain pen.

There we have the nib
and the feed...

..extracted.

This is the old damaged nib
which I've just removed

and this is a Wyvern 14-carat nib,
the right vintage,

which I'll fit to the pen.

I've also managed to recover
from another old Wyvern pen

the right feed.

We have to put the nib and
the ink feed in intimate contact

with each other and to place them
within the section

that joins the whole thing
into the pen.

That's it.

It's gone in perfectly.

So, now, we're in a good position
to put the ink sac on.

And to do this, we take a piece
of latex rubber tube

and glue it onto the back of
the ink section with some shellac.

The shellac makes its seal,
so that when the pen reservoir

is squeezed to fill the pen,
then it doesn't come off,

or leak around there, to let ink out
into the barrel of the pen.

Now, we're in a position to put
the pen body back in,

but first of all,
we have to renew the spring

that is rusted.

So, we'll throw that away,
put in a new one.

It's got to be lined up exactly
with the lever,

so that when the lever is raised,

this bar is pushed down

and the sac inside the pen
is compressed.

So, pushing this up
inside the barrel.

Lined up precisely.

I have to make a space between
the spring and the pen barrel,

so that it can be placed in.

Years of experience have shown me
that I've got to get it

just in the right place.

Otherwise, the pen won't
operate properly.

So, now, you can see...

..it's got a spring on it.

Lucia has also been drawing on
her years of experience

in the restoration of the painting

whose owner is due back
to collect it.

All that is left to do is a final
protective layer of varnish.

No matter how many times you do
this, you cannot take it for granted

because things can always go wrong.

But that looks pretty good.
I'm really pleased with that.

It's a real relief when I've done
this spray cup because,

every single time, it's different.
Every time, it's nerve-racking.

I couldn't be happier.
I really couldn't.

The size of this picture means
Lucia needs a helping hand

to fit it back into its frame.

So, we lift it up. Just hold
the back of the painting

and lift the frame.
Just tilt it on its edge.

As long we hold the painting
in the frame... I've got it.

Wow! Look how beautiful that looks.

That's just, like, unreal.

And there I can see the actual...

The signature's come up now as well.
Yes. Yeah, all that's appeared.

I, personally, can't believe
how great this looks. Really?

Yeah, no, seriously.
It's really nice to be told that.

So, all you've got to do now is
just fix this in

because Andrew's coming in
very soon. Yes, he is.

It'll be ready for him
when he comes in.

But you've done, again,
a brilliant job.

Thank you. Thanks, Jay.

Owner Andrew is back to collect
the portrait of his mother

as a young woman that had been
languishing in an attic

for 35 years.

I am slightly apprehensive
about seeing it because

it's a part of my mother's life
that I wasn't part of,

long before I was born.

I've never seen her
as a young person, truly,

so it'll be interesting to see her
at a time when we have

no photographic evidence
of what she looked like.

Hello, Andrew. Hello, Lucia.
How are we doing? Good to see you.

Likewise. Nice to see you again.

You ready for this? Am I ready?

Yes, I'm ready.

Shall we just do it?

Oh, my gosh.

Wow.

Whoa, that's extraordinary,
isn't it?

Gosh.

Margaret Jean Handley,
as she was. My word.

That is extraordinary.
Beautiful woman.

Wonderful.

Took my breath away there,
when I saw it. Good, good.

That's it.

Thank you. My pleasure. Thank you.
My pleasure.

Did you enjoy...? Of course I did,
yeah. Wow. It was really great.

Yeah, it cleaned beautifully.
You don't know how these things

are going to clean
until you start. OK.

Wow. And those colours
have come out, haven't they?

They've come out really well.

That shawl which... We couldn't see
any of those colours.

No, it's absolutely this sort of
iridescence that is picked up

from the peacock feathers
and it's really like a jewel.

Its jewel-like colours.

And there was another revelation
as well during cleaning.

She has legs.

Oh, she does!

Yeah, and this whole area...
Yes? ..had painted out

and the paint that had been used
had taken off all the bottom edge

of the feathers.

Why would it have been painted over?

I don't know. You tell me.
OK, I will!

I don't know. There are alterations
throughout the whole picture.

But why they would paint out those
legs, because it actually

works quite well.

And you've mended where
she walked into the wall.

Yes, yes. Yes, that was
a little tear repair.

Oh, I'm stunned, absolutely stunned.

It is a staggeringly beautiful
picture. Thank you so much.

I think you're very lucky to have
a painting of your mother.

It's really great, and looking
so beautiful.

I think Mother should
come home with me. OK.

I'll give you a hand to the car.
Thank you. Ready? Yeah.

I don't think I was really expecting
to be quite so emotional

when I saw the picture for the first
time. It really was a surprise.

It took me off my guard.

I mean, it is extraordinary to see
a picture of somebody

you sort of know but have
never really seen in that way,

as a beautiful young woman.

Yeah, it really did bring
a lump to my throat.

I mean, it's amazing to have
someone like Lucia

work on the portrait
and to bring it back to life.

It's so, so good to see and I'm so
grateful that she was able to do

such a brilliant job on it.

As Andrew carefully transports
the painting to be reinstalled

in the family home, fountain-pen
expert Laurence is ready to see if

the pen will now fill.

This is a vintage pen
and, in those days,

one had a bottle of ink,
which is water in this case,

and you had to put it in there,

press the lever,
squeeze the ink sac,

release again

and, then, ink could go
into the pen.

We just raise the lever again
and you see it come out,

so I'm confident that
the pen is working now.

A big treat is about to take place
for this pen,

because it's not been filled up
for about 70 or 80 years.

So, now, we're going to put some ink
in it and it'll live again.

The first person to write
with this newly-renovated pen

will be owner Sharon,
whose grandfather gave it to her

when she was the first member
of their family

to graduate from university.

I'm really looking forward to seeing
the fountain pen again,

to see what's been done.

I really hope Laurence
has been able to get it working,

so that I can write with it again.

Hello. Nice to see you again.

Nice to see you again, yes.
Hi, Sharon. Lovely to see you.

How are you? I'm fine.

It's not Christmas yet, I know,
but it's like Christmas, isn't it?

Sharon, are you ready to see the pen
now and see what's been done...

Oh, yes. ..to your prized
possession?

Oh, there it is!

Wow, look at it!

Oh, it's gorgeous.

Oh, it's lovely.

Has it got ink in it? It's got
some nice black ink in it...

Has it?! ..all ready to go,
because there's nothing worse

than a pen that doesn't work.

So, when was this last written with?

I would say...

..the 1950s.

Yes.

Wow.

It feels strange, but familiar.

You know, sort of kind of like
Grandad's with me.

To think that the last time this
was used his hand was holding it,

it's really quite strange
and emotional.

It's brought him closer again.

Yes.

And it's just lovely to have.

Thank you so much.

Oh, dear.

OK.

SHE SIGHS

Thank you so much. I always like
to hear the story behind

pens that I restore.

It makes such a difference
to me as a restorer.

It's just such a wonderful place.

Thank you, all.

When I first started to use
the pen, I knew exactly

what I was going to write.

I knew I was going to write
my grandfather's name.

Every time I use it to write
letters, he'll be with me again,

so I'm just so grateful
that Laurence was able to repair it.

It's just lovely to have.

Join us next time...

CHEERING

..as heritage crafts people...

Yes, yes!

..restore modern masterpieces...

That is unbelievable.

I'm in awe of you. I'm in awe.

..in The Repair Shop.