This is a significant restoration project for this Louis XV commode, originally veneered in rosewood and violet wood. It took me some time to determine if it was indeed violet wood, as the commode had undergone so much restoration that there was almost as much rosewood as violet wood. Fortunately, the drawers are still in fairly good condition and are definitely made of violet wood, so I conclude that the commode was originally veneered with these two woods.
On the restoration side, there's a lot of work to be done on the veneer, but the structure is in fairly good condition. This means the chest of drawers doesn't need to be completely disassembled. Complete disassembly is always a rather involved operation in furniture restoration, and it's always best to avoid it.
After filling the gaps in the veneer with new veneer, scraped and sanded before gluing, I re-glued all the surfaces with a glue infiltration treatment and hot glue for the raised areas and grafts.
The drawers were worked under vacuum, the sides and front were worked in a traditional way with presses and hard and soft wedges and with the addition of heat.
A rather interesting case from an ethical point of view. Should we "un-restore" in order to remove the rosewood, or should we leave the old grafts?
From my point of view, I think we need to take a holistic approach. The previous restorations are an integral part of this chest of drawers' history. So, as long as they don't detract from the aesthetic appeal or the overall impression of the piece, there's no problem. However, for restorations that are too visible and irreversible due to oxidation, I think they should be replaced. Their location also influences this decision. A poorly executed repair in the middle of the front will be problematic, whereas if it's located on a rear leg and therefore not visible, I don't see the need to replace it.
That is why I chose to keep some old grafts despite their poor color and worked them with oxidations before varnishing the chest of drawers.
This photo clearly shows the old and new grafts, including various rosewood and violet wood of varying ages. The main task was to harmonize all these woods to restore a uniform color scheme.
Oxidation before varnishing
The chest of drawers was then cleaned and stripped. Next, I filled the indentations using pumice and alcohol. The grafts were oxidized and stained. Finally, I applied a clear French polish. The gilt bronzes were cleaned in an ultrasonic bath.
