Restoration of the Pleyel by Emile-Jacques Ruhlmann

Paris 1929, serial number 188.927

When the piano came to us for restoration in 2019, it was in a complete original condition.
It had never been restored before. Marks on the underside indicate that the piano had been in storage for a long time.

The instrument is a Pleyel Model F, a respected and popular model of the 1920s.

Ruhlmann had a second oak case made around the body of the Pleyel, giving the piano the characteristic triangular Ruhlmann shape.

On this outer oak case lies the veneer of Macassar, oak and kingwood (Bois de Violet).

The inner lid, the music desk and the interior of the acoustic frame are gilded in oil-gold leaf on a red ground, a classical technique used for centuries to decorate European churches and palaces.

Our team began with the acoustic part. The piano was dismantled; pins, strings and the heavy iron frame were taken out.

The frame was sprayed in the same gold colour as before.

The soundboard was dried slowly for about five days with a small electric heater under the piano and then given a crown. Cracks in the soundboard were repaired. The soundboard was sanded and varnished with soundboard lacquer.

The piano was restrung to the same dimensions as before.
The bass strings were custom-made by Gregor Heller, Germany, the steel strings by Röslau, Germany. The new tuning pins are the original black-blue type.
The red felt of the acoustic frame was renewed in the same quality and colour as the original.
The felt factory still exists. It is in Wurzen, Germany. It supplied French piano brands in the 19th and 20th centuries and still produces the same felt.
The damper felts were renewed in the highest quality. The damper system was carefully restored and thoroughly regulated.

The action was cleaned, regulated and the hammers reshaped. Smaller worn leather and felt parts were replaced. All parts were kept true to the original and brought back into a playable condition, ready for professional demands.

The original ivory key coverings were lightly bleached and polished. Should they have to be removed for international export, we recommend replacement with Elforyn, a high-quality mineral substitute. It has the typical grain and feel. Even for specialists the difference from real ivory is not discernible.

The gold-leaf parts were re-gilded with the highest-quality gold leaf, 23.75-carat Rose Noble double gold. The work was carried out by the renowned Markus Schmidt, a trained church restorer, and his wife Claudia Schmidt-Felderhoff from Bamberg, Bavaria. The result was extremely glossy and not suitable for practical use, because a piano is touched when played. Gold leaf wears quickly through touch. We therefore protected the gold lightly with a spray varnish, a spray normally used to protect oil paintings on canvas: Schmincke Universal Fixative. The extremely glossy appearance of the gold became somewhat more restrained and matt.

Under the music desk there was a thin wooden cloth which had been destroyed. We replaced it with a thin fabric of pure wool of the same quality and colour.

The letters “Pleyel Paris” on the fallboard were sensitively repainted by Claudia Schmidt-Felderhoff.

The fire-gilded bronzes taken off by our team were carefully cleaned with an ultrasonic device and then by hand with water, citric acid and baking powder. We regard the bronzes as in very good original condition, and the mercury gilding is very well preserved.

The original veneer was 98% complete; only loose parts were present. It was restored by Wolfgang Bischoff of Elzach, a trained and experienced furniture restorer who is familiar with the restoration of piano cases. The case showed traces of earlier moisture, which had led to an irregular, uneven surface. Bischoff has a large stock of high-quality veneers, from which he selected small pieces to replace the missing parts. All loose veneers were carefully removed, cleaned and glued back to fit. Finally the surface was hand-polished with shellac.

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The restoration of the Ruhlmann Pleyel was completed in 2024.

Ettlingen, 6 February 2025

Claudia Klinkenberg