Walnut Chest of Drawers with Marquetry Inlay

A customer contacted me concerning several pieces that had water damage. One is a chest of drawers with Walnut veneer. The front of the chest has a beautiful marquetry inlay of a bouquet of flowers. For more on the art of marquetry here is a link:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marquetry

While the chest of drawers is fairly modern, the veneers used in this piece are quite nice. The piece sustained damage to its top due to falling plaster and damage to the drawer fronts due to water spray. The finish used on this piece is a factory sprayed laquer which is not a restorable finish. The chest originally had the carved sections painted with a gold paint, but since we had to remove the finish from the rest of the piece, we nemoved the gold paint as well. I stained the carved areas, which were naturally much lighter then the veneers, to match using aniline dye stains. After all repairs were done (including reattaching a loose top) I began the finishing process. I will post pictures of the completed chest after I deliver the piece.


The chest before refinishing
The Chest with its finish removed

Tightening of the joinery of the case
Replacing a missing piece of trim on the drawer front

Masking the trim on the drawer fronts for staining


The piece during the application of the finish