The restorers
 "The restorers")
They have worked with palaces and museums to restore antiquities. Now, at the seventh edition of the Royal Fables, two French designers are highlighting the link between Indian royalty and French ateliers
Original glow
Regis Mathieu Chandelier restorer and designer
Chandelier restoration is a niche field and there are few like Mathieu who specialise in it. So what draws him to this craft? "You get to learn directly from the masters," he says. "When you dismantle a chandelier, you discover a series of people and their skill behind it." He asserts that his team doesn't make replicas but does "re-additions".
Who the client is and where he or she is based also affects the direction the project takes. For instance, in France, the client is the government. Hence, when Mathieu was commissioned to restore a chandelier at the Chateau de Versailles, he says it felt like he was undertaking it directly for Napoleon for whom the work had originally been commissioned. "But in Baroda, the client is the family. Here, the members tell us the histories and stories behind the chandeliers," he says.
Each chandelier is a revelation. When he dismantled the first chandelier at the Durbar Hall in Baroda, he discovered the initial colours and its origin.
"The chandeliers in the Durbar Hall had been cleaned over the years but no repair had taken place. It is an extremely slow and expensive process," says Radhikaraje Gaekwad of Baroda. The restoration work at the Durbar Hall is likely to be finished by January 2016.
Some of the chandeliers are several centuries old with the original suppliers long gone. So, sometimes original materials are not available. "We can make bronze gilding and engraving from scratch in case they are missing," says Mathieu. "For crystal, we work with European suppliers. In the past, people imported chandeliers from the best in Europe. So we get the parts from there to match the original," When there is no historical material available to shed light on the original work, Mathieu and his team search for a reference in old paintings.
Original glow
Regis Mathieu Chandelier restorer and designer
Chandelier restoration is a niche field and there are few like Mathieu who specialise in it. So what draws him to this craft? "You get to learn directly from the masters," he says. "When you dismantle a chandelier, you discover a series of people and their skill behind it." He asserts that his team doesn't make replicas but does "re-additions".
Who the client is and where he or she is based also affects the direction the project takes. For instance, in France, the client is the government. Hence, when Mathieu was commissioned to restore a chandelier at the Chateau de Versailles, he says it felt like he was undertaking it directly for Napoleon for whom the work had originally been commissioned. "But in Baroda, the client is the family. Here, the members tell us the histories and stories behind the chandeliers," he says.
Each chandelier is a revelation. When he dismantled the first chandelier at the Durbar Hall in Baroda, he discovered the initial colours and its origin.
"The chandeliers in the Durbar Hall had been cleaned over the years but no repair had taken place. It is an extremely slow and expensive process," says Radhikaraje Gaekwad of Baroda. The restoration work at the Durbar Hall is likely to be finished by January 2016.
Some of the chandeliers are several centuries old with the original suppliers long gone. So, sometimes original materials are not available. "We can make bronze gilding and engraving from scratch in case they are missing," says Mathieu. "For crystal, we work with European suppliers. In the past, people imported chandeliers from the best in Europe. So we get the parts from there to match the original," When there is no historical material available to shed light on the original work, Mathieu and his team search for a reference in old paintings.
History in every thread
When travelling to Varanasi as a youngster, Jean Francois Lesage's gaze fell on a lone craftsman during a power blackout. He saw this man embroidering a fabric in the light of a bulb. Embroidery was losing its popularity in both France and India. Lesage decided to do something about it. With a lineage of design and fashion - his father Francois Lesage was famous for producing embellishments for fashion houses such as Chanel, Lanvin and Givenchy - he set up an atelier in a sprawling bungalow in Chennai with three business associates. From here he now sends out exquisite home products to various corners of the world, collaborates with designers such as Christian Louboutin and restores vintage embroideries. He bides his time between Chennai and Paris.
"Our company, Vastrakala, has been doing reproduction and restoration for private homes and collectors. For example, we reupholstered one of the Napoleon's thrones for a private collector," says Malavika Shivakumar, managing director, Vastrakala. It was a challenging project as there was no historical material available.
"Lesage, who is our artistic director, is very particular about the historical accuracy. So, we first research the design. When there is no documentation, we create something that is proportionally accurate," she says. The team refers to the repository of books in Vastrakala's library and to the 7,000-strong embroidery and textile archive. "Then we see how that embroidery is to be treated. You can't use plastic sequins for something that is Mughal or Empire, as in the case of Napoleon," says Shivakumar.
When travelling to Varanasi as a youngster, Jean Francois Lesage's gaze fell on a lone craftsman during a power blackout. He saw this man embroidering a fabric in the light of a bulb. Embroidery was losing its popularity in both France and India. Lesage decided to do something about it. With a lineage of design and fashion - his father Francois Lesage was famous for producing embellishments for fashion houses such as Chanel, Lanvin and Givenchy - he set up an atelier in a sprawling bungalow in Chennai with three business associates. From here he now sends out exquisite home products to various corners of the world, collaborates with designers such as Christian Louboutin and restores vintage embroideries. He bides his time between Chennai and Paris.
"Our company, Vastrakala, has been doing reproduction and restoration for private homes and collectors. For example, we reupholstered one of the Napoleon's thrones for a private collector," says Malavika Shivakumar, managing director, Vastrakala. It was a challenging project as there was no historical material available.
"Lesage, who is our artistic director, is very particular about the historical accuracy. So, we first research the design. When there is no documentation, we create something that is proportionally accurate," she says. The team refers to the repository of books in Vastrakala's library and to the 7,000-strong embroidery and textile archive. "Then we see how that embroidery is to be treated. You can't use plastic sequins for something that is Mughal or Empire, as in the case of Napoleon," says Shivakumar.
Regis Mathieu and Jean Francois Lesage present their work at St Regis, Mumbai, between October 28 and 29, as part of the seventh edition of Royal Fables