Poplar Corner Cupboard (ca. 1850 and 1920)

Recently I completed the restoration of a really interesting piece. I was in a local antiques store called the Gilded Flea (http://www.gildedflea.com/) talking with the owner and looking at the new arrivals. As I was about to leave I noticed corner cupboard, which up to that point I had completely missed. I happened to have a customer who had been hunting for a corner cupboard. One stipulation was that the top be open for displaying purposes. I took a few photos and measurements and sent them to my customer, who bought the piece almost immediately.

A few days later I returned to the Gilded Flea with my van and transported the cupboard to my shop. Once the cupboard was in the shop I started to look it over to get an idea of what repairs needed to be addressed as well as get acquainted with the piece. Below are the original photos I took of the piece while it was displayed in the Gilded Flea.

 

 

 

Dwayne, The co-owner of the Gilded Flea, had informed me that the piece was signed on the back. Below is a photo of the signature. The photo that follows is a doctored version to help clarify the signature. The signature reads "William Henry Dietz- Rt.1- Manchester"

A little digging revealed that the only instance of Route 1 going through a town named Manchester, was in Virginia. It turns out that the south side of Richmond which lies on the south bank of the James River was originally a separate town named Manchester. Manchester was annexed by Richmond in 1910. Route 1 crosses the James river over Belle Isle and passes through Manchester as it heads south. A little more digging revealed that Route 1 was laid out around 1920. While these dates do not overlap, it is easy to imagine that a cabinet maker who grew up in Manchester would have continued to call his home town Manchester even after it was annexed by its neighbor. The only thing was that the base was clearly much older than these dates. Closer inspection revealed that while the base was signed by William Henry Deitz, it was signed on replaced boards in the back. Most likely, Mr. Dietz had the base, which probably dates to around 1850, fixed and refinished it, and built the top to fit the base. The top has several design elements that place it in the twentieth century, and the nails and saw marks are consistent with this. The base is pegged and square nails were used, pointing towards earlier construction. Both top and base were made primarily of Poplar.

The final conclusion that I have come up with is that the base was made around 1850, probably in Virginia. Around 1920 or so Mr. Dietz got a hold of the base and repaired and restored it. In addition, he made a new top for it complerte with doors. The doors are currently missing, which suited my customer just fine, since she was looking for a piece without doors. Below are some photos of the piece during the restoration process.

The next two photos are of the top and base as they came into the shop.

The molding which framed the opening in the top was very loose, so it was glued in place, as seen in the photo below.

It is hard to see in these photos, but the interior of the base was very dirty and had many rings on the shelves. The entire interior  was sanded and stained.

One of the shelves was loose and the joint had failed. Below is a photo of it being glued.

Many of the nail holes in the back and shelves were filled and sanded, in preparation for painting the interior of the top.

The drawer bottom was separated, but it was possible to glue the two boards that make up the bottom back together, as seen in the next two photos

 

The last two photos show the piece once the painting was done and the finish was restored. It really turned well and the customer loved it. Thanks to Dwayne and Krista at the Gilded Flea for the great find!

Cedar Lawn: Regency Breakfast Table (ca.1820)

This is the second post in a series of posts I am writing concerning the restoration of the furniture from the historic Cedar Lawn Estate in Jefferson County, West Virginia. All posts concerning this furniture have the words "Cedar Lawn" in the title.

This post deals with the restoration of a Mahogany breakfast table from the English Regency period. The construction of the table is circa 1820.

As the 18th century came to a close the rise of the middle class was well at hand and with this demographic change came certain luxuries, like entertaining in the home. With this relatively new found luxury came the need for specialized furniture, like tea tables for example. The use of occasional tables reached its peak in the late 18th  and early 19th century. As there popularity grew, the designs began to multiply and become more specialized. Different tables were made to suit different needs. The one thing in common with occasional tables was the need for versatility in design. These tables were not needed all of the tome , but rather occasionally, so to make these tables more practical, a tilting mechanism was integrated into the designs of many tables so that the top would tilt and the table could be stowed to one side of the room when not in use. Smaller tilt top tables with round tops had been used for most of the 18th century and some even allowed the top to turn, making it easier to serve tea (much in the way a lazy suzan works.)

as the 18th century drew to a close, larger tilt top tables were introduced. These tables served as an extra table for guests, or a smaller gathering. I suspect that the name "Breakfast Table" is a more modern distinction for these tables, but it is universally recognized to describe this design. Also, it does give the feeling of a more intimate use, a table to sit around the morning after entertaining, having a meal with the close friends who stayed the night.

That being said, there is nothing clumsy or unrefined about the design of this table and it would give any formal dining table a run for its money. The top is constructed from two book matched boards of  Cuban Mahogany.  As if a surprise given to us by the cabinet maker, the opened top reveals the top of the pedestal which is a beautiful piece of figured Cuban Mahogany framed by Brazilian Rosewood veneer. Decending down the pedestal is a well turned column of Mahogany which flows into four Mahogany saber legs which terminate in a carved scroll pattern. This is a fancy table!

The condition of the table when I received it was pretty bad, and many years of use were evident. In addition, the tilting mechanism had been fixed by inserting four dowels through the battens under the top and into the top of the pedestal. This hid the Rosewood veneer and figured Mahogany from sight for many years. Luckily, the brass catch mechanism was still there.  The finish was in bad shape and needed to be removed and the top had developed a crack that needed to be addressed. The photos below show the restoration of this beautiful table.

This photo shows the table as it came to me.

The crack in the top can be seen below.

This photo details some of the damage to the finish.

After the finish was removed, the repairs were made starting with the pedestal base. This photo shows the core stretcher of the base being wedged and glued to prevent it from wobbling.

The next step was to glue the loose top of the pedestal. through the clamps you can see the Mahogany and Rosewood top.

A second round of clamping followed on this section.

The crack in the top was addressed from the underside of the table by inserting two butterfly patches perpendicular to the direction of the grain. These patches keep the top from moving . In the first photo, the patches are laid out to be scribed,  The second photo shows the outlines of these patches scribed into  the wood.

This next photo shows the mortices for the patches cut. The narrowest part of the patch is aligned with the crack in the top.

I developed a new way to clamp these patches, which uses reversed clamps strapped to the table with ratcheting tie down straps. This eliminates the need for expensive deep clamps and provides a more effective pressure where it is needed. The photo below details the use of these clamps.

Once the patches were glued, a wedge was tapped into the top surface of the table. After the glue had set, the excess portions of the wedge was  pared flush with the top surface, effectively filling the crack in the top.

Once the repairs were made, the entire table was sanded and stained. This next photo shows the top after sanding. Below that is the base of the table during the finishing process.

These last photos show the restored breakfast table from several angles and with the top up and down.

Cedar Lawn: Late Classical Mahogany Game Table (ca. 1830)

Shortly Before Thanksgiving, I completed the restoration of several pieces for a historic home in Jefferson County, West Virginia called Cedar Lawn. All post that I write concerning the furniture restored for this estate will have "Cedar Lawn" written in the title. Cedar Lawn was built in 1825 for John Thornton Augustine Washington, the grand nephew of George Washington. Here are two links to Wikipedia, one about Cedar Lawn and the other about John Washington.

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

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

The current owners of the house have recently completed the restoration of the home, of which restoring the furniture was a part. Here is a link to the website that chronicles the restoration of the property:

http://cedarlawnrestoration.com/

I will be writing several posts about the fantastic furniture that I had the pleassure of working on. While the provenance of the pieces is hard to trace and none can be proven to be original to the estate, many of the pieces dated to the general time period of the house's construction and were in keeping with the architectural style of the house.

the first piece I will be writing about is a Late Classical, or American Empire game table. I have to say that in all of my time working on furniture that this style of game table is the most appealing to me and of all of the Late Classical game tables that I have worked on, that this is one of the nicest examples.

This style of furniture is often referred to as "Pillar and Scroll" furniture and one can see why when you look at this piece. The column or "pillar" sits atop a base which terminates in a scroll foot, in this case with applied turned volute appliques. The bottom of the pillar is surrounded by a well carved wreath. As we move up the table the apron is shaped in a well proportioned ogee profile and the top is veneered with a beautiful piece of crotch Mahogany. When the table is opened the top surfaces are book matched and are made from ribbon Mahogany veneer. All of the veneers and and solid carved parts on this table were made from tight grained Cuban Mahogany. The secondary wood used in this piece was pine, possibly pointing toward northern manufacture. For a look at an earlier post I wrote on Pillar and Scroll furniture and its history you can follow this link:

http://johnmarkpower.blogspot.com/2010/01/cabinet-makers-assistant-pillar-and.html

The table had lots of loose veneer and a broken foot. It also had a lot of separation on the finish so  I decided to remove the finish, make the repairs, and refinish the table with a French Polish. These first few photos show the table in the condition that it came to my shop. The close up photos show some of the separation of the old finish.

This photo shows some of the veneer loss on the base.

After the finish was removed, I set about repairing the table. A large section of the apron was loose and needed to be glued in place.

Some additional damage was that one of the tables feet had broken off of the table and had been poorly repaired in the past. These photos show the old repair undone and the foot separated from the base.

In this next photo, The apron is being glued back in place. The next two photos show some creative clamping on the foot to glue it back in place.

After those repairs were made, loose veneer and patches were glued in place as seen in the photo below.

There was one veneer bubble that needed to be glued down on the top. This photo shows that work being done.

The next two photos show the tops and base during the refinishing process.

The following series of photos shows the restoration completed. The photos show the top open and closed and also the table from a few different angles.