The mahogany chest on chest come in for restoration, after being purchased from a local auction room by a private client, the chest on chest dates to round 1750, the peace of furniture was country made , meaning that the chest was made from slightly cheaper timbers. The sides were made from pine and coloured to match the mahogany veneered draw fronts. The draws were constructed from oak with pine fronts and veneered in mahogany veneers.
The peace of furniture was to be restored without being French polished and keeping in character with its age and maintaining its original patina. The chest had numerous repairs to the carcass, broken mouldings and veneer damage to the front. The draws would need some attention the runners to the carcass and the draw runners , thus would mean removing the worn out timber to the draws and new timber being replaced and the draws being refitted to the carcass Because how the draws were constructed with them over lapping the carcass, they tend to get the mouldings and veneer damaged to the draw fronts. These will have the moulding replaced with new timber and shaped afterwards. The damage to the veneer in the draw fronts, was repaired with old veneered removed from furniture that was broken up and kept for work like this.
Once all the repairs were carried out the draws being fitted to the carcass and now running smoothly . The furniture was cleaned with a solution I make up in the workshop, that will break down the grease and grime down, without removing the original finish . The new repairs had some shellac coated on and gave me a base to colour out between coats. The chest on chest was waxed with pure beeswax and allowed to dry before being buffed of. The new repairs were coloured out and a hard wax applied . This was a mixture of beeswax and carnuba wax . With some elbow grease the finish comes up with a lovely colour and patina . The original brass handles were lightly cleaned and put back on to complete the restoration
Daniel Chapman antique furniture conservation and restoration 