Thread: new find, dresser, inside 1929

It looks like an applied moulding to the d/front try kingfisher furniture designs in townsville, they might be able to help you if not rout some moulding and have a go at carving the corner motifs good luck

If its going to be painted over, you might consider making a mold off one of the intact fronts and using that to make a casting. Not ideal but worth keeping in the back pocket for if nothing else works.

Did some resreach on the net ,of the maker,on the plate, Ed Rosenstengel,524 brunswick street fortitude valley brisbane, in queensland, from 1922 to 1958 , a master furniture maker,my step mother telling me , he use to , stain, (paint), I don,t know, a lot of his furniture in black, so I don,t know, if I will take the black of ,or try and leave it on , I just don,t know where to go from here, I ,am thinking sanding it slowly, that way take off what I want, just asking any ideas pls?

Thinking the black , may be a stain, did some resreach on the net and one guy, said to use Laundry bleach or oxalic acid, I just don,t know, what to do, will think it over

That black looks a bit like some type of old varnish commonly used in tat period.

If it is, then try scraping with Gem type razor blades or Stanley knife blades.

The black was probably "Japan Black" a sort of asphalt finish which was popular in this era. There are a number of recipes out there on the net which you can readily find yourself. I've never tried this type of finish.

The whole Japan Black finish was supplanted by nitrocellulose lacquer.

Feast Watson have a Japan Black stain if you want to go down that path.

We have a dressing table from around that era with a similar finish. It was definitely stained with a varnish over the top. I think the timber is Queensland Maple but it is hard to tell.

Interesting thread, look forward to seeing how it works out.

got a price to replace draw front overlay on top right side draw, about $1000, size 270 x 180, I don,t know what timber it is sorry , any ideas pls

Wow! Remortgage the house maybe? Rob a bank?

Maybe the idea above of making a mould and casting it out of something is a better idea.

Or, have a go yourself - how hard can it be?

Now that I've seen the piece, I am pretty certain that Black Japan was used as a finish. The good news is that you can use just about any suitable hardwood as a replacement. I reckon the most likely candidate is Queensland Maple.

The bad news is that the $1000 is probably about right, now that I have seen the detail. That does not look like an applied moulding but a bas relief carved motif. In other words, the material that is not part of the motif is removed from around it. A bit hard to say from these low resolution photos but that is my guess.

This is a beautiful table.

I'm a bit of a tom boy but this really appeals to my girly side. It's really nice to see someone is trying to restore it.

good luck