A stunning rosewood William The Fourth folding card table with carved lion paw feet. Much of the veneer and mouldings were missing, The hinges were broken and water damage to the frame left it distorted and damaged.
Lots of missing veneer, A cupped and warped top due to water penetration and even a few burns for good measure.
Missing veneer, mouldings and extremely flaky, dry shellac finish.
The first order of business is to remove the old veneer by steaming and scraping before flattening the surface with splines of wood set into grooves to pull out as much of the cupping as possible.
The missing mouldings around the base and feet are reproduced using a scratch stock and carving tools to get the correct shape and profile.
The recolouring/colour matching can be done later
The column has a moulded octagon missing so a template is made up to work out the correct profile and angles required for replacements.
The new octagonal parts are shaped and fitted individually before being coloured to match.
Earth pigments and shellac are used to colour match the repairs
The top, rear and any other areas requiring re veneering are completed with new, book matched rosewood veneer.
Lots of missing or loose veneers that need replacing. Once complete, the whole interior and exterior are taken back to bare wood, recoloured and prepared for a new finish and polish.
The old felt is removed in preparation for a new layer
All edges and surfaces are trimmed flush where new veneer has been applied to remove any rough edges before colour matching takes place.
I was lucky to find a pair of replacement hinges to replace the broken ones. It was then a question of sealing the piece with three coats of lacquer and finally buffing, polishing and fitting a new baize/felt disk.
After sealing and hand polishing the table top could be refitted to serve its owners for the next two centuries,
