40 
HOUSE & GARDEN 
THE FINISH AND CARE OF OLD FURNITURE 
A Study in Elbow Grease and Wax—The Way to Preserve Color and 
Grain—Cleaning Before Refinishing—Some Furniture Don’ts 
ABBOT M C CLURE and HAROLD DONALDSON EBERLEIN 
Authors of “The Practical Book of Period Furniture, etc." 
r I ' LIE finish 
A and care of 
old furniture or 
of worthy re¬ 
productions of 
old furniture are 
subjects of an 
importance not 
to be minimized. 
Upon finish and 
care depends a 
large portion of 
furniture’s 
aspect and its 
pleasing or un¬ 
pleasant effect 
upon the eye 
T h e following 
paragraphs are 
intended for those who own old furniture 
that needs doing over, for those who acquire 
old furniture that requires repair and re¬ 
finishing, and, lastly, for those who wish to 
give their furniture the just and necessary 
care to keep it in the best condition. 
The color and grain of wood are two 
of the essential features of beauty in 
furniture. It is only fair, therefore, to 
consider their nature and to do justice 
to their qualities in the finish that is ap¬ 
plied. And it is reasonable to presume 
that the intention of finish is to preserve 
and enhance those qualities and not to dis¬ 
guise them. The wood whose natural qual¬ 
ities are most often violated in finishing is 
mahogany. The several varieties differ 
somewhat in color, but the prevailing hue 
is a rich, golden brown that assumes both 
a greater depth of tone and an increasingly 
reddish tinge with age and exposure to the 
light and action of the atmosphere. 
No wood is more beautiful when its 
natural color, unspoiled by stain, is allowed 
to show. It is to be deplored that the popu¬ 
lar mind has become imbued with the erro¬ 
neous idea that mahogany ought to be red, 
and the redder the better. The pernicious 
practice of artificially reddening mahogany 
came into fashion about the beginning of the 
Nineteenth Century and was widely in¬ 
dulged in along with the equally objection¬ 
able practice of indiscriminately applying 
French polish. Fortunately, the taste for 
making table tops and cabinet work look 
like auxiliary mirrors has somewhat abated 
but the “red” obsession still remains to be 
eradicated if mahogany is to be fairly 
treated. The only valid excuse for stain¬ 
ing mahogany is one of commercial expe¬ 
diency. In large furniture factories it is 
often impossible to secure a sufficient sup¬ 
ply of one kind of mahogany, and the man¬ 
ufacturers must needs have recourse to 
stain in order to ensure uniformity of color 
in the pieces they produce. In the case of 
an antique no such necessity exists, and it 
will be found well worth while when refin¬ 
ishing to avoid all stains or dyes. 
Walnut has not been subjected to such 
indignities of artificial coloring except oc- 
For structural repairs, depend upon a reliable 
cabinet-maker, the finish you can do yourself. 
But never use kerosene 
casionally when misguided persons have 
tried to “mahoganize” it red. The appre¬ 
ciation of its true beauty and value is 
rapidly increasing. 
There is comparatively little really old 
oak furniture to be found in America. 
Nearly all of it is clever reproduction and 
has been “antiqued” with stain, fame and 
filler. For decorative purposes, however, 
it answers quite as well as authentic origi¬ 
nals and deserves the same care to keep it 
in good condition. Bilsted, the wood of the 
sweet gum or liquidambar, a frequent sub¬ 
stitute for mahogany in Revolutionary 
times, is beautiful in itself and should be 
kept free of stains. Satinwood, bird’s-eye 
or curly maple, often mistaken for satin- 
wood, sycamore and cedar, particularly the 
old Bermudian cedar, have not lent them¬ 
selves to ill-judged attempts to disguise 
their properties and have fortunately been 
let alone. 
If you own or buy a piece of old furni¬ 
ture that requires attention, consider well 
before doing anything to it, whether it 
needs merely cleaning or whether refinish¬ 
ing is imperative. The mistake is often 
made of refinishing when cleaning would 
be better. If the chair, table or piece of 
cabinet work is structurally in good condi¬ 
tion and has acquired the patience that only 
age, use and reasonable care can give, it is 
a pity to destroy the work of years, which 
nothing but a lifetime can replace, merely 
for the sake of having an object “spick and 
span” and slicked down into almost new¬ 
ness. Once scraped and refinished, the mel¬ 
lowness of color and the patina resulting 
from handling and the atmosphere are gone, 
and no amount of money can put them back 
again. Of course, if the surface is covered 
with an accumulation of varnish and “pol¬ 
ishes” that have obscured the color and 
grain of the wood or “gummed” into a 
crackled coat that fills all depressions and 
sometimes spreads over flat portions too, 
the piece must be scraped and refinished. 
If the piece needs physical repair it must 
necessarily be scraped and refinished. 
You may either do over and refinish the 
piece of old furniture yourself, depending 
upon the cabinet maker for structural re¬ 
pairs only, or the whole job may be en¬ 
trusted to the artisan. In the latter case be 
sure you know your man and can be cer¬ 
tain that he will scrupulously carry out 
your orders. In many cases the antique 
dealer or cabinet maker, while pretending 
to comply, will disregard your directions 
and do as he wishes unless you are in¬ 
sistent and watch him closely. If he can, he 
will do what is least troublesome and what 
the average indiscriminating customer is 
content to take, or may, through ignorance, 
prefer. When, therefore, you once find a 
conscientious artisan who will do as he is 
bid, stick to him. 
To remove the accumulation of varnish 
(Continued on page 54) 
An excellent American style Hepplewhite of 
good proportions and graceful lines that 
needs only the upholsterer's attention 
A pie-crust table in 
this condition 
needs only a good 
rubbing down and 
wax 
