Some Recently Completed Pieces

19th Century English Cherry Dressing Table

I have developed a bit of a backlog of photos of completed work over the past couple of months. In an effort to catch up I am showcasing some of the more interesting pieces that have come through the shop recently. Below I will describe the pieces and the work we did to them.

1. English Lath Back Windsor Chair

 This was one of my favorite chairs to ever come through the shop. It is a Lath Back Windsor made from various woods including beech and elm. It was made sometime in the middle of the 19th century. 

These chairs are great, they have great form and are very comfortable. This one had loosened up so I glued the loose joinery. The wear on the chair was wonderful, especially on the arms, so we simply cleaned and waxed the finish.

2. Four Ladderback Chairs
 
These chairs are pretty run of the mill, and were probably made around 50 years ago. I chose these to showcase the great job my caner did on the rush seats! Beyond the seats, I glued the loose joinery, and cleaned and waxed the finish.

3. Parquet Table with Draw Leaves
I have written about draw leaf table before on this blog. All of the examples that come through the shop seem to be from the early part of the 20th century. This one was made form European walnut and beech. It had a French country style, and was probably made in France or possibly another country on the European continent. This table was in pretty rough shape, so we removed the finish and refinished it with a French Polish finish.
  

 4. Walnut Breadboard End Table 
This table came from Switzerland and was made from old boards of European walnut. That being said, it was made fairly recently. I liked this table a lot because it reminded me of the first dining table I made, which was also of walnut. The finish was in bad shape, so we refinished this with a French Polish finish.
 

 5. English Cherry Dressing Table
This was a sweet little table, made from European cherry in the early part of the 19th century. Despite the cabinetmakers attempts to use good straight grained wood, the back legs had warped severely! Because it was stable and there is no real way to fix this, I left them as is. This piece was refinished with a French Polish finish.

6. Walnut Drop Leaf Table
This table had some beautiful walnut veneer, as seen in the photo below. It was made in the 1930s and I refinished it with a French Polish and found a new walnut knob for the drawer.

7. Reproduction John Shaw Four Drawer Chest
This chest was a lovely reproduction of  a chest made by John Shaw (1745- 1829), a cabinet maker from Annapolis, Maryland. The reproduction was made by Biggs Furniture of Richmond, Virginia. The chest, like the original, had beautiful crotch mahogany on the drawer fronts. Quite a lovely piece, reproduction or not!

8. Mahogany Display Stand
 
This stand had a lot of work put into it. The top was edged with inlayed banding, some of which was missing and we had to recreate. We also glued the loose joinery, replaced some of the glass, covered the bottom with felt, and refinished the entire case.
  

 

 

I am sure I have more photos like these so I will probably be putting together another post soon of pieces that were recently restored.

Cedar Lawn: English Rosewood and Mother of Pearl Wheel Barometer (ca.1850)

 

The Completed Barometer

 In the past year I have restored several pieces for a home in Jefferson County, West Virginia called Cedar Lawn. to view more posts concerning this home, please click on the label "Cedar Lawn".

This post concerns a Barometer we restored a few months ago. The barometer is veneered with Rosewood and that veneer is inlayed throughout with mother of pearl fretwork. besides the barometer itself, The case also housed a thermometer, a damp gauge, and a level. An almost identical barometer was recently sold and was credited to Negretti and Zambra, a London Firm specializing in scientific instruments. A link to that Barometer can be seen here:

http://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/13157671_victorian-rosewood-and-mother-of-pearl-barometer

The following link shows the Wikipedia page on Negretti and Zambra:

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

It is possible that this barometer was made by someone else, or that it was made for a retailer that chose not to have the companies name on the case. Another possibility is that it had a paper label that is now lost. At any rate, It is most likely that this barometer was made by or for Negretti and Zambra. 

The barometer had many condition issues when it came to the shop. The convex bezel glass that housed the silvered hydrometer dial was missing as was the curved rectangular glass housing the thermometer. The case itself had loose veneer and was missing part of the mahogany crown molding. In addition to all of this, the thermometer glass was cracked and the barometer tubes in the back were also cracked.

The replacement glass was custom made by Carter Holder,of New Port Richie, Florida, who is as far as I know the only person in the country who can make this type of glass. The result was quite beautiful to behold and was of fine craftsmanship.

The barometer tubes were replaced by Eastern Standard Time, of Purcellville, VA. All other work was done in house and can be seen in the photos below.

These first few photos show the condition of the case when it arrived in the shop. Note the missing mother of pearl in each photo. Replacement pieces were carefully cut using a jeweler's saw and glued in place using hide glue. All of the loose rosewood veneer was also glued down using hide glue, an appropriate glue for such work.

Below is a the replaced section of crown molding carved out of mahogany, like the original. It was later stained to match the color of the rosewood the way the original section would have been stained.

These next two photos show some clamping operations in which loose veneer was glued down and replacement inlay was glued in place.

The finish on the mahogany pediment was in very bad shape and could not be restored, so it was removed and replaced with a french polish. The finish on the rest of the case was restored and French polish was added to the original finish. the pediment can be seen with the finish removed in the photo below. You might notice that the example I linked to above has a brass finial. I saw no evidence of a finial on the pediment so decided not to put one on.

This shot shows the barometer case with the various instruments removed. The tools used to repair the case are seen scattered around on the bench.

Before installing the various instruments, all of the glass was cleaned and the brass surrounds were polished. Below are two photos of the damp gauge before and after cleaning.

These last few shots show the completed barometer hanging in Cedar Lawn.

Completed Mahogany and Glass serving Tray (ca.1930)

I wrote a previous post concerning this tray and here is the link:

http://johnmarkpower.blogspot.com/2010/04/mahogany-and-glass-serving-tray-ca1930.html

The following photos show the before shot followed by several photos of the completed piece with the new glass installed .

Before:
After: