Transition cylinder desk

A few years ago I had the chance to restore this magnificent roll-top desk from the Transition period (1780).

It is framed in oak and fir. The drop-front is primarily veneered with rosewood arranged in a paillon pattern, framed by a thin border of boxwood and green-stained hornbeam, surrounded by a thin band of amaranth. The back is veneered in satinwood. The central marquetry, set against a tobacco-stained sycamore background, depicts musical instruments and two doves taking flight, each carrying a musical score in its beak.

This piece of furniture arrived in very good condition; despite some misalignment and missing veneer, the entire piece survived all these years without moving in the same room of a castle in Normandy.

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The restoration therefore consisted of bracing and reinforcing all the cracks in the panels and the drop-leaf. All the missing veneer was replaced, taking care to preserve as much of the original material as possible and using new veneer that was sawn, scraped, and sanded before gluing in order to avoid having to sand the entire piece of furniture.

All surfaces were treated by rehydrating the adhesives through infiltration. The cylinder was re-bonded under vacuum with a slight application of heat.

The entire piece of furniture was then lightly sanded, cleaned, and reworked with a pad of pumice and alcohol. Once this was complete, the new veneer grafts were oxidized before being finished with a clear French polish. A new blue silk velvet was then installed to replace the original.

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To see previous restorations : https://ebenisterie-mathieuvath.fr/en-ce-moment-a-latelier/