Project description
We have a walnut chest of drawers that came down to us from my grandmother; by the family papers it was put together somewhere around the 1890s, and it has never been restored properly, only waxed now and then. The carcass is sound and the drawers still run, but the veneer is in trouble. Across the top there are half a dozen blisters, the largest about the size of a palm, and along the front edge the veneer has lifted and cracked away, so a strip roughly twenty centimetres long is missing altogether. Two smaller losses sit on the left side panel near the base, where the piece once stood next to a radiator. The old finish is shellac, now clouded and dull, with white rings left by glasses and a worn bald patch in the middle of the top.
What we are asking for is a careful repair, not a makeover. The patina is the whole reason we keep this chest, so please do not sand it back to bare wood or spray it with modern lacquer. We expect hide glue and a warm iron worked through paper to lay the blisters down, fresh pieces of veneer chosen to match the figure, grain direction and colour of the original walnut, and the shellac polish revived by hand where it can be revived and rebuilt only on the areas where nothing is left to revive. Where a small colour difference remains on a patch, we would rather see it toned than see the whole top stripped.
The brass handles and keyhole plates should be cleaned and waxed, not replated, and one drawer runner needs easing so the drawer stops binding in damp weather. In your reply please describe how you would deal with the losses, what the work will cost and how much time you need. Collection and return by van can be arranged; the chest is about 110 cm wide, deep and heavy, so two people are needed to move it safely. Close photographs of the blisters, the missing strip and the worn top are ready to send on request.
What we are asking for is a careful repair, not a makeover. The patina is the whole reason we keep this chest, so please do not sand it back to bare wood or spray it with modern lacquer. We expect hide glue and a warm iron worked through paper to lay the blisters down, fresh pieces of veneer chosen to match the figure, grain direction and colour of the original walnut, and the shellac polish revived by hand where it can be revived and rebuilt only on the areas where nothing is left to revive. Where a small colour difference remains on a patch, we would rather see it toned than see the whole top stripped.
The brass handles and keyhole plates should be cleaned and waxed, not replated, and one drawer runner needs easing so the drawer stops binding in damp weather. In your reply please describe how you would deal with the losses, what the work will cost and how much time you need. Collection and return by van can be arranged; the chest is about 110 cm wide, deep and heavy, so two people are needed to move it safely. Close photographs of the blisters, the missing strip and the worn top are ready to send on request.
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