Here are a few shots of table restorations I have completed. Scroll down for expanded notes on several projects.
BAROQUE STYLE TABLE RESTORATION
This table is suffering from one of the most common problems I am asked to repair: water damage, spilled from a vase or flower pot. When this was made circa 1880, Hide glue, made from animal renderings, was used. Hide glue releases its hold when wet, allowing waterdamage to seep in.
When this was built the skills of the day were the Marquetrian Cabinet-maker and Turner. The Caster of the Brass Ormolu was not on par so with the consent of the owner I removed everything and started from scratch. There are three specific features to this design:
1- Outer edge quarter cut mahogany banding
2-The Makassar ebony scroll pattern
3-matched Center Burl
All three features were arranged in the quickest way possible, not the most decorative and most suitable for the project. To start, all the quarter cut (Strait grain) Mahogany should be cut in sections and align to the centre of the table. The Makassar ebony should also align toward the center. The matched burl should be a 4-way match set, or at least a two piece book-match.Now, with this information compare the two images.
CHESS TABLE
CHESS TABLE RESTORATION
As you can see sections of the chess board veneers are missing, and a section of the substrate also missing.
I first replaced the missing substrate using a joint reinforcement method called “biscuit joinery’ this uses a oval shaped composite wood glued into slots cut in the opposing edges.
To disguise the damage joint I decided to replace all four of the maple scroll designs as all original sections had pieces missing or lifting.
In addition the rectangular banding was all too badly damaged to keep. The missing pieces in the center and others were replaced with the same species of veneer matching the multiple piece design squares.
SCANDINAVIAN TABLE
This was an unusual project for several reasons first it was Scandinavian, usually furniture with minimal decoration, this table although not having extensive inlay it had a highly decorative geometric perimeter border, at 3meters (almost 8ft) long and shaped like an hourglass pinched in the middle.
It had been used as an office desk. Usual coffee cup stains dent and scratches and lost or damaged veneer, showed its previous life before restoration.
PARQUETRY RESTORATION
Parquetry is a classification process similar to Marquetry but specifically geometric patterns, the chess table would be classified as Parquetry the other is a combination of both using the Parquetry design as a background for the Marquetry.
Similar the previous circular Baroque Table above, these two pieces suffer from the “Law of horizontal surfaces”, in which, any horizontal surface will have something placed on. In these two examples the circular ring typically of a vase is clearly visible; although the chess table was probably a glass ash tray which it had a burning cigarette. The repair to the chess table required replacing the damaged veneers with the exact same species and grain pattern selected from my extensive veneer inventory collected over many years with Marquetry designs.
Like so many restorations tables suffer from the “Law of horizontal surfaces” in which, any horizontal surface will have something placed on. In this example the circular ring typically of a vase is clearly visible; The table repair required mapping the remaining design pieces and recreating the lost pieces using the glue outline. Then Replacing the damaged veneers with the exact same species and grain pattern selected from my extensive veneer inventory which I have collected over many years.