Eastlake Washstand (ca.1880)

I received a washstand made during the Eastlake period. This period was during the later part of the Victorian era. The use of straight lines and lack of heavy ornamentation was a response to the trends that directly preceded this style. (ex. Rococo Revival) The use of these straight lines and simple moldings meant that each component of a piece like this could be manufactured with the use of powered tools. Even the joinery was produced with the use of machines at this point. This type of manufacturing of furniture was to become the dominant method of building from that period to the present. For more about Charles Eastlake and the Eastlake movement you can view an earlier entry in my blog. Here is the link:

http://johnmarkpower.blogspot.com/2009/04/gluing-walnut-eastlake-chair.html

Here is a picture of the piece with it's hardware removed. The top of the piece is marble which I left at the customer's house.

The main issue with the piece was that the front right caster was loose because the blocking had broken. The first step in repairing this was to replace the blocking with new wood. This is seen in the photo below: Once the blocking was glued in place the a dowel was inserted to plug the hole for the caster. After the glue dried the dowel was trimmed flush. Here is a picture of the caster in place and all of the blocking stained to match the existing blocking.