Restoration of a veneered desk on all sides yew burl and amaranth veneer with a geometric design of boxwood stringing. It opens with five drawers in the front and five simulated drawers in the back. The two lower drawers follow the contour of the wood and slide at a 45-degree angle. The top is veneered in amaranth and edged with a bronze molding. It rests on four cabriole legs and terminates in curious acanthus leaf bronze mounts. The frame is entirely oak, except for the drawers, which are walnut with rebate-set bottoms.
A small and rather unusual desk. I confess I can't determine its origin. The construction, the quality of the wood, the shape, and the curves lead me to believe it's French. Perhaps Parisian? To be honest, I don't know. If you have any information, I'd be grateful.
State of affairs report
This desk was in a fairly advanced state of disrepair. There were numerous small missing pieces of veneer, many of the joints were loose, and the drawers were very difficult to operate.
The Restoration
After reattaching all the joints, all the veneered surfaces were rehydrated with a penetrating adhesive. Any missing veneer was replaced with new veneer that was sawn, scraped, sanded, and cut to the correct thickness as a backing before being glued with mammalian hide glue. The old varnish was too degraded, and the gluing operations on the burl wood were too extensive to preserve. After stripping and filling with pumice, the new veneer grafts were oxidized before the application of a clear shellac varnish.
