Thread: Bookcase secretaire in need of love

The two side panels are angled towards the front. It's easier to see in other photos.
Secretaire.jpg

Mmmn, it is still weird! Double bracket feet - excessive, even for this period IMHO.

Originally Posted by Xanthorrhoeas

Mmmn, it is still weird! Double bracket feet - excessive, even for this period IMHO.

Love your threads Fletty!! Both for the information and the humour!!

I have an Art Deco era/style silky oak dressing table awaiting some of my attention, I dare not say skill!!
Nothing so complex as your efforts but a piece I feel is worth the effort.

The handles are missing and so is the mirror so here will be some searching to do in that regard. Unfortunately the
piece was painted - several times.The previous owner has stripped the unit to some extent and my main concern is
getting paint from the open grain. Looks like a case of a good stripper and steel wool and water!

Hi artme - it would be good to post some pics in a new thread. Northern Silky Oak can be damaged by some stripping methods and, after stripping, the very open grain structure can lead to splitting. Remember too that NSO often comes naturally with white crystals in the grain - so they don't need to be stripped out. It may be one reason it was often stained darker - to hide the crystals.
David

The (much anticipated) package from Watson Brass arrived in the mail today....

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With my my usual disclaimer (I have no connection whatsoever to the company) they are my go-to,supplier for restoration, and especially Chinese style, brass and bronze cabinet hardware. They are based in Northern NSW and (Easter excepted!) they supply within a few days.
Unfortunately I couldn’t get exactly the same key escutcheon.....

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... and the convex rather than concave sides means that the escutcheon doesn’t actually cover the rather cavalier large round hole drilled for key clearance. I’ll talk to Joseph about this later! If I was going to sell the piece I would probably plug the round hole and cut a new, shaped keyhole but....
I also ordered 2 new woodscrew bronze knobs for the writing surface supports and fitted them. This one pic shows a sample of all of the old and new brassware...

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I am am now encouraged to replace the bolts in the handles with brass screws and either chemically ‘age’ them or let nature take its course. I will still proceed with circular brass threaded bushings to replace the ‘orrible steel hex nuts that have chewed the timber so much especially on the VERY visible writing surface.
fletty

Yup.....

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..... definitely a keeper! I have spoken to Joseph about the desk compartment being too low to hold bottles of booze only to be told that he was in fact a Quaker! He did suggest however that the top book shelves could be arranged to hold booze ....... or at least, that is what he had been told?

fletty

I am no expert on Aussie made furniture of the period.
But it was quite common to use two timber species (maybe more) in the construction; partly I think because these pieces were never "high end".
Repairs around hinges, handles & drawer slides always consume much time & in my experience it's generally difficult to hide completely.
In my "restorations" I usually do a complete strip of all stain & varnish/laquer. This allows easier matching of any inserts required to repair.
Today's tastes are very different, & the old traditional dark stains are not well suited (IMHO) to todays home interiors. Light or natural works best.
Good luck & BTW I would select better condition pieces if available, initial cost is irrelevant considering the many hours spent in restoration.

Hi Peter,
Sometimes the "many hours spent in restoration" is what it is all about - the fun of it.

Historically, a lot of furniture has been altered to fit the fashions of the time - such as changing from light to dark or dark to light finishes. That probably works for the owners at the time but it also shreds the long-term value of furniture. The highest prices achieved for antiques are invariably those that have an original or very old finish.
David

Originally Posted by peterlonz

I am no expert on Aussie made furniture of the period.
But it was quite common to use two timber species (maybe more) in the construction; partly I think because these pieces were never "high end".

Plenty of high end furniture has secondary timbers of different species sometimes its lesser or cheaper quality. Most furniture is built that way . There is a period with Aussie furniture where all the wood was Red Cedar , exterior and interior. This was after 1788 or when they started using it, after it was discovered, to 1850 roughly . Its seen on better quality and common stuff in this period.

That is absolutely correct. The other interesting thing is that today, we think of veneered furniture as being lower quality because it is veneered on rubbish board, but back then the very best furniture was almost always veneered at least in part.

The 2-3 mm thick veneers were hand-sawn from choice-figured timber glued onto solid timber using hide glue. Sometimes the solid timber was the same species e.g. Huon Pine on Huon Pine or cedar on cedar, but sometimes the carcass was a different, cheaper and more readily available timber. Exceptions to the veneering rule are found with Blackwood, although in the best pieces that was string-inlaid.

Functional furniture used in kitchens and the private rooms (by definition not the best as that was reserved for drawing rooms, libraries and dining rooms - the rooms open to visitors) was not veneered or inlaid as it was often scrubbed bare to keep it clean and then just waxed.