The Maritime and Historical Museum of the Croatian Littoral hosted us on the Wood Restoration Workshop held on 1st and 2nd December 2018. The aim of the workshop was to familiarize children with the process of wood restoration under the mentorship of Dino Marković, a museum preparator.
Throughout the two-day workshop, we have learned about the entire process of wood restoration by practically applying the process to four chairs dating back to the end of the 19th century.
Dino started the career of restorer later in life. He graduated in Zagreb school for the vocation of Wood Technitian, and at Callegari School in Rijeka course for the designer of furniture. After a year of professional training in PPMHP, he passed a professional exam in MDC for the Museum Preparator. Since then he has been working as a preparator at the Maritime and Historical Museum of the Croatian Littoral.
At the beginning of the workshop, we got acquainted with the tools and materials we were going to use. Also, Dino showed us many examples of furniture he has restored for the museum, showing us the original state compared to today’s, refurbished one. We have prepared four chairs that we first disassembled and then honed to treat them.
The second day we used the shellac and wood coloring. The whole process of reconstruction is long and slow, so this was an excellent workshop for exercising persistence and patience. On the other hand, it should be precise and concentrated so that the chair is not damaged or colored too much. But on the other hand, the result was so good that we all paid it.

You can see the chairs in our office – Krizanićeva 6A!