Restored, Palimpsest of the Tool by RDA

Restored, Palimpsest of the Tool, explores the layered lives of working objects and hand tools, shaped and worn by time, restored through care having witnessed generations of making and mending.

Restoration uncovers not just the tools themselves, but the stories inscribed into them. The concept of palimpsest, a surface that has been written over, but still holds traces of previous etchings, guides this exhibition of restored tools. The tools, once rusted or broken, carry layered histories and the marks of their original craftsmen. The exhibition captures these unique traces through a series of photographs revealing these individual marks. Here, restoration is not a return to the origin, but the process of preserving, and recognising what was, and what is.

In architecture we encounter palimpsests, the restoration of buildings, mirrors that of the restoration of tools. As Architects, we restore life into these spaces, whilst often leaving visible traces of their past, becoming part of the identity, living archives and the story of the building. Placing these resorted tools alongside the practice of architectural restoration, we reflect on craftsmanship and what it means to restore without erasing the past.

Restored, features 100 mid-century carpentry tools made and used by Ben Davidson’s grandfather during his career as a cabinet maker.

“My grandfather was a carpenter by trade and was extraordinarily talented; he should have been a cabinet maker. I recall many summers in my teens and earlier where I was packed off for two weeks to go and stay with my grandparents in Norfolk where I would spend the entire time with him in his workshop. I remember the environment as if it were yesterday and, particularly, the care that my grandfather took of his tools. The blades were razor sharp and always oiled at the end of the day. The handles were polished with linseed oil. Everything had its place. My grandfather would make many of his tools and they were beautiful: boxwood handles, beautifully turned with the deep patina of use.”- Ben Davidson