Rescuing a petite lacquer chest
On a blistering hot August day in 2024, I arrived in Bethel, CT to pick up a group of woodworking machines from a retiring antique furniture restorer. In the corners of his shop were piles of old wood, and quite a few abandoned restoration projects, including a small black lacquer chest. It was pretty rickety, and had a lot of paint loss, but I paid him $20 for it, because I thought it would be a good learning project, and because I thought it had probably been amazingly beautiful in its day.
- in pieces for cleaning
Turns out to have been probably from the 1920s, and had tole-painted flowers and greenery, as well as Chinoiserie (Asian-influenced) decorative elements - many of which were worn or even completely missing. But before any decorative work could begin, I removed the beautiful teardrop brass hardware and completely disassembled the case. It sat in my own attic for months until I got a bee in my bonnet to try and resurrect the piece. First was to clean the pieces, especially removing the dried glue that had held it together, and lots and lots of dust, and then to reassemble the case, with the exception of the warped top. It clamped and glued-up without much of a fight, but I left the top off for the time being.
- clamped and glued
Then began the LONG process of in-painting! Some things were a matter of simple touch-up, but the top was an intimidating blank canvas of paint loss. Slowly I gained some feeling for the brushstrokes of the original artists, and while it’s not on the level of a professional artist, I’m pretty happy to see how it has come out.
I was a bit embarrassed for a while in that I’d misplaced the hardware, but the third time I returned to the place I’d left them, they magically appeared to my eyes. A good cleaning revealed some fun painted brass on the larger pendants and pure brass for the two intended for the top. It’s unlikely they’re original to the piece, but I wouldn’t change them for anything else.
- the lower pendants need another quick rinse and a brass pin to hold them from spinning. you can see the original border designs which are in much better shape than those on the top were.
The hours spent on this piece can never be recovered in a sale price, but lots of lessons learned, and lots of great practice in many skills. Here’s a picture of the assembled cabinet (though without the hardware). Please inquire through the contact button if you are interested in purchasing this fun piece!
- needs a little better photography to capture the piece better, but here it is!
