A German find on Palm Jumeirah: restoring furniture made in 1940
Furniture made in 1940 was found in Germany by Moscow designers, shipped to a villa on Palm Jumeirah and handed to a restoration workshop. It arrived under a dense layer of dust and deposits, untouched for years. That is a normal starting point: the work begins with an unhurried inspection, never with cleaning.
How did a rarity from Germany end up on Palm Jumeirah?
Moscow designers found the furniture of the forties in Germany and brought it to Dubai for the interior of a villa. When the workshop was invited to the property, the pieces were covered in a thick layer of dust and deposits. Nobody had clearly touched them for many years.
This is the typical route for objects with a history. Designers who work for wealthy clients search the whole of Europe — auctions, antique shops, private owners. Germany, France, Italy and Belgium remain the main sources, because old furniture has survived there in large quantities.
For a villa on the Palm such a piece becomes the centre of meaning in the interior. Furniture with a history cannot be ordered from a showroom, and that is exactly why it is valued.
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Between the find and the living room, though, there is almost always a restoration. An object that has stood for years without care does not go into a lived-in interior as it is.
What state does old furniture arrive in?
What the workshop saw at the villa is the usual picture after long storage. It looks alarming from the outside and says little about the real condition of the piece.
The first thing is dust: a dense layer that over the years works its way into the pores of the wood, into the ornament and into the joints between parts.
The second is deposits — a film on the surface that a damp cloth does not remove and that calls for careful cleaning.
The third is the finish. Old lacquers and polishes go dull, crack and in places come away from the base beneath them.
The fourth is the structure. Joints can loosen if the piece stood for a long time in a damp room or, on the contrary, in one that was too dry.
Is furniture in that condition a lost cause?
No. To the owner it looks like a catastrophe; to a restorer it is a normal point of departure. Dust and surface deposits do not in themselves destroy solid wood.
Furniture of that period was often made of solid timber and veneer on a strong base. Under the dirt there is frequently a structure that will last for several more generations.
What matters far more than the appearance is the state of the frame and of the finish. Both are assessed at the inspection, before anything else is done.
Where does the restoration of rare furniture begin?
With not hurrying. Look, assess, and only then start work: that is how the workshop approached the German find on the Palm.
The inspection comes first. What is the piece made of, what is it finished with, where is the damage cosmetic and where does it reach the structure? The whole plan and the final estimate depend on those answers.
The diagnosis establishes the material, the type of finish and the degree of damage. It also marks what can be kept in the original.
Cleaning follows, and it is gradual. Each compound is first tried on an inconspicuous area, so that the original finish is not washed away together with the dirt.
What comes after the cleaning
Strengthening. Veneer that has lifted is glued back, weakened joints are restored and the losses are made good.
The finish is the last stage. The top layer is renewed or recreated so that it protects the wood and does not erase the age of the piece.
There is no universal recipe for furniture made in 1940. Two wardrobes of the same age can need entirely different work, depending on where and how they were kept.
Why does a hundred-year-old wardrobe cost next to nothing in the CIS?
Because there is a great deal of old furniture there and little demand for restoring it. A wardrobe of the forties sounds like a museum exhibit, but for the CIS countries it is a perfectly ordinary story.
Wardrobes and sideboards from the time of the Russian Empire, more than a hundred years old, still turn up in flats, in country houses and in sale listings. The price is often symbolic. Oleg once bought such a wardrobe for himself for very little money.
Historically there was little habit of investing in restoration: people found it easier to buy a new object than to deal with an old one.
So the real value of these things — solid wood, handwork, a structure built for decades — often goes unnoticed.
Why is the same furniture a find in Dubai?
In the Emirates the picture is reversed. The city is young and has practically no old European furniture of its own. Almost everything older than a couple of decades was brought from far away.
A piece made in 1940 is not, in Dubai, something from a country house. It is a rarity that people travel halfway round the world to fetch.
The climate adds to this. The air conditioning runs almost all year, the air indoors is dry, and outside it is hot and humid. Old wood reacts to such swings.
Furniture from Europe therefore has to be prepared properly for life in Dubai: the protective finish restored, the joints checked, and the piece given time to get used to its new conditions.
What should you weigh up before bringing antiques to Dubai?
The structure matters more than the look. Dust and film can be removed, whereas serious damage to the frame raises the estimate noticeably.
Budget for restoration from the start. A piece that has spent years in storage is almost never ready for an interior straight away.
Use no household chemicals. An attempt to wash old furniture with an aggressive product can destroy the original finish.
Remember the climate: the top layer has to protect the wood from the dry air of the air conditioning. And show the piece to a specialist before deciding what to change in it.
What the case on the Palm shows
German furniture made in 1940 shows how an object that stood for years in dust becomes the main accent of an interior in one of the best-known locations in Dubai.
The way from the find to the living room runs through an unhurried restoration: inspection and assessment first, then careful cleaning and strengthening, and only after that a new finish.
The main task of such work is to keep the age and the history of the object, and not to replace it with a replica.
Frequently asked
Can furniture that stood in dust for many years be restored?
As a rule, yes. Dust and surface deposits do not destroy solid wood by themselves. The condition of the structure and of the finish matters more, and both are assessed at the inspection.
Why not simply wash old furniture yourself?
Aggressive products and rough treatment remove the original finish together with the dirt. After that the age and character of the piece cannot be brought back.
Is it worth bringing antiques from Europe to Dubai?
Yes, if the piece really matters to you and cannot be bought here. Budget at once for delivery, restoration and adapting the wood to the local climate.
How does the Dubai climate affect old furniture?
Dry conditioned air and swings in temperature and humidity make the wood move. A proper protective finish and a check of the joints reduce the risk of cracks and of parts coming apart.
Why are antique wardrobes so cheap in the CIS?
Supply is large and demand for restoring old furniture has historically been small. In Dubai it is the opposite: such pieces barely exist and are valued as rarities.
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