Empire Game Table (Part 2)

Some time ago we had a post about an Empire Game Table we were restoring.  Well, we finally finished it.  Actually, we HAD finished it a while ago but forgot to show the pix.  Enjoy!

Vintage Tall chest

Here's one of the newer projects we're working on here.  This is probably late 19th Century based on the hand cut motifs used in the construction of the piece.  This tall chest was purchased from an estate in the Chester County PA area.  The crotch mahogany veneer used on the drawer fronts & horizontal surfaces are in exceptionally great condition.  We're going to clean it up and repair it where it needs to be fixed and breath life back into it.  It's a rare pleasure to see something this fine be a testimony to its era and still having a great utility in and by todays standards.  The drawers are substantial in size yet the object maintains a scale very desirable and conducive to todays life style.  When it's completed it will be available for purchase.

Deep South or Why haven't I moved here yet?

I am haunted by how to appreciate this stuff any more than I already do.  These are of Historic Charleston.  Some are in need of repair but this area is beautiful in an especially exquisite way.

Pictures don't do this historic neighborhood justice!

Church Bell Tower: Anyone wanna guess the pitch on this roof?  I'll bet there's "0" leaks.

Like something out of Interview with the Vampire (minus the blood suckers).

Down in the "really old" section.  Cant wait to go back!

Now this is what the "Shed" lives for!  Can you guess the age based on the dormers, roof pitch, siding and over all design?  What about paint samples?   I think you'd be surprised or at least fascinated!

Irish Georgian Table Sells at Auction

Who Would've Guessed ?

 

I suppose if you thought about you'd have said "That figures" or perhaps even "So what" but an 18th Century Irish mahogany drop leaf table sold for $ 46,000.00 this past May.  To give you a better idea of its scale, the dimensions of the object is 28 1/2 " High.  The width is 15 1/2 closed and 46 1/4" when opened.  Its depth is 47 1/2". 

 

Upon inspection one might remark as to why this is an "Irish piece" of Georgian furniture.  The answer is quite simple.  First, the age is evident based on visual inspection and verification.  The style indicates it was crafted in the Georgian design.  Georgian period would span the reign(s) of George the first through fourth.  The Irish flair is  evident in the foot, the elongated acanthus leaf and the emphasized sculpted mask.

 

The estimated sale price was $2000-$3000 at auction.  At the end of the bidding the sale price weighed in a whopping $54,050 after all charges where factored.  It is from the estate of Herbert Christian Merillat author of Guadalcanal Remembered. 

 

 

 

 

Empire Game Table (Part 1)

Recently we acquired a vintage game table that was in need of some serious reconditioning.  Looking at the acquisition we determined that it probably was not a piece spirited away from some museum gallery even though its appearance might have suggested some kind of hidden value if it had been accompanied by documentation.  That aside, we decided to tackle the job secure in the knowledge that if we did this we weren't washing away historical provenance and emasculating an iconic side table in Napoleon Bonaparte's bedroom.

It really is a beautiful example of empire craftsmanship.  It has a single, circular, pedestal base supported by lion's paw feet.  Closed, it is a rectangular table that can open easily and convert to a square top for a friendly game of cards or whatever.  Enclosed is an accessory drawer for miscellaneous sundry items (i.e.: cards, score cards, pencils, pens...smokes). 

The object sat for a while until we decided what to do with it; were we doing the right thing by refinishing it?  Long story short, the decision was made to proceed.  The base seemed to be fairly easy.  Since it was an old piece I assumed there to be several coats of lacquer applied to the base and it hadn't looked like anyone had cared too much about it for some time.  So I assumed that there wasn't some feeble attempt back in the seventy's to refurbish the piece by brushing on layer upon layer of poly urethane over the old finish, countless years of dirt, cigar smoke residue, food, moon dust, or whatever else you can imagine.

I was correct; it was lacquer.  The top finish easily melted away under the attack of the solvent.  I was worried that the beautiful grain that could be seen was a faux application and that the solvent would melt that away as well revealing a bland sort of homogenized fried fish look.  I was very pleased this wasn't the case and what was revealed was actually a nicer visual appearance.  I would later take advantage of this when highlighting the grain and selecting color and sheen.  The next step was a true judgement call that deserved more than less thought: what product to use in the resurrection of this gem.

I worked as a representative for one of the finest furniture manufacturers in the known galaxy or at least this side of Alpha Centauri: Kindel Furniture.  Kindel has been around for over a hundred years but it didn't really step into the ultra high end until the leadership of Robert Fogarty.  Mr. Fogarty took charge in the late seventy's, acquired the coveted licence as the sole producer of accessioned objects at the Winterthur Museum (outside of Wilmington Delaware) and established it as a household brand for the rich and famous. 

Armed with this kind of clout, it only made sense that with a bit more thought I could avoid the trap of buying stains and finishes from big box retailers like Home Depot & Lowes.  Don't get me wrong, I love these stores and have (and will) spend many hours at them roaming the aisles looking for needles in haystacks pretending that it's me and not some marketing effort to keep me there longer so I'll buy more.  They most assuredly have their place and should be revered, enjoyed, and patronized for what they are; we'll be that much the poorer if they vanish from the landscape.  But I didn't want to use mass marketed finishes available to everyone.  So, with the experience I had in the high end furniture business I jogged my memory and conjured up mental images of my visits to the different factory tours, factory sales, sales training et al.  From that soup of memories emerged Mohawk stains & finishes; a-ha! now we're talking!  Needed to find this stuff & needed to prove what I was already convinced of:  that it was worthy of use.

Mohawk Stains and Finishes are phenomenally easy to work with and possess attributes other finishes don't.  These stains come in a variety of colors and seem to bring out a luster that I've failed to recognize in all the years I've worked with other coatings. 

Getting back to the game table, once the old finish was washed off I applied a medium walnut stain and worked it in over a day or so taking my time to observe it in different light, at different times during the day, and at different angles.  Ironically, something that ostensibly sounds so mundane and boring, I found very relaxing.  I guess it was the appeal of taking something neglected and tired, tossed aside, forgotten and breathing life back into it.  How often in ones life do they feel this way?  Forgotten, tossed aside, trivialized, having a sense of greatness but only perceiving never realizing.  Michelangelo's image of God touching the listless Adam, breathing life into his creation lends somewhat of an understanding to what the appeal may be.  Yes, that's very "Over done" isn't it, but it's a strange sensation and to have to explain it means the recipient would never understand it.

Next came the sheen.  Should we go high, low, medium; what?  I always tend to steer away from high sheens because for as much as I love them the gloss tends to be so un-forgiving to anything underneath.  Glossy sheen reflect everything so any imperfection under the coating will stand out.  With restorations like this, that may not be such a good thing; we wouldn't want to detract from the credit that's due this project.  At the same time, I really didn't want to go with a low sheen matte finish only because it sometimes looks a little "Plastic-Y".  Not to say high sheen can't look that way either but hey that's why this is an art form, right?  If it were just a matter of "a cup off this and a dash of that" then we'd have meatloaf at the end of the day; am I right or what?  The decision was made to go with semi-gloss; don't ask me why...you wouldn't like the answer and I "Might" feel dumb.  Personally, It was a home run. It did everything I thought the other sheens would do by themselves but couldn't accomplish alone.

Historic Furniture Store Burns in Croydon

At a cross roads in London stands an historic building that houses Reeves Furniture. The store has gained global attention & notoriety over the past week because it, a 144 year old business that serviced many generations, has been burned to the ground by lawless hooligans in Croydon, South London, England.  The damages raging in England hasn't occurred since Hitler's Blitzkrieg campaign during WW II.   Please consider the following:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2023975/London-riots-2011-Croydons-House-Reeves-razed-ground.html

House of Antique Hardware

We recently came across House of Antique Hardware while looking for a bunch of brass Federal Style pulls for a chest of drawers we acquired.  The piece was in a bit of a state when we got it.  It stunk of old clothing, moth balls, and God knows what else.  It was old, faded, used & abused; it needed some serious oxygen! 

The object had very good bones, though, and that's why we adopted it from the pound. It was constructed of solid wood (a rarity these days).  The drawer construction was very good, it appeared to be quarter sawn Sycamore that was dovetailed to ensure stability.  The veneers were slipmatched. What it lacked in overall eye appeal it made up for in quality. The product was faded beyond recognition and there were several areas where the veneer had lifted and snapped off.  The chest had simple wood knobs that gave it a very understated appearance.  We gussied it up a bit by repairing the veneer, staining, & finishing it.  We wanted to get some new hardware and that's where HOAH came in. Found them online; this was our first experience with them. The Empire pulls we bought came in as shown online and had a polished brass finish. The pulls were a little tinny but the price was right. Needless to say, the overall experience was very good & we found a cost effective solution to this project. We highly recommend them and would buy from them again.  Check them out at:

 http://houseofantiquehardware.com/site/reproduction/renovators-hardware.html 

Small & Medium Empire pulls from HOAH.

 It's 99.9 % done and looks 110% better than before.

 WOW!!!!!


I wish I had a before picture!!!


 and most definitely....


 looks much better than it smelled!



Thanks for stopping by!!!

Yours truly,

Ha Chew
The Restoration Shed Inc.
Philadelphia, Pa


COMING SOON:  "Getting Rid of that stench in your Vintage Furniture"