Identifying finish on this old furniture.

[plasticpigeon]

Finish on old furniture baffles me somewhat. I know french polish was popular, along with other types of resin varnish, and colour was often stain then French polish, but what is this? It looks to be quite dark, and perhaps the dark is in the top coat, rather than stain followed by polish or varnish. Even stranger is that it looks like the patterns in stringing or whatever it is called have had the surface finish removed to show the paler wood underneath. Does anyone know if the stain is in the topcoat, and if so what is it, oil varnish perhaps?

These pieces of furniture are about the right size for what I want. Narrow wardrobes like this with drawers at the bottom are not so easy to find. I'm not sure of the colour, it is a bit dark compared to other stuff we have which is mahogany, and they look a bit battered. French polish I can make a decent job or repairing, but this darker finish, which could be filled in with tinted french polish is a new one. Does anyobe know what the finish is likely to be please.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Good-Quality-Edwardian-Wardrobe-Chest-Of-Drawers-Maple-Co-Open-To-Offers/232593015405?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649

 

[88v8]

Bit late....

Maple & Co, good quality.
Not a set of course.
Dark stain, the wardrobe stained in imitation of flame mahogany, with contrasting faux inlay which does indeed appear to have been created by dragging out the stain while it was wet.
Light interior, is that solid or a iining? Solid, so that's the colour.
The base colour of the chest may be quite different.

If they came from the same room, I wonder if the chest was stained to match, and the stringing rubbed out to create a sense of matching the tonality of the wardrobe.
The close-up of the wardrobe shows the lighter wood beneath where the finish is flaking off. So you could strip and restain it, but you'd lose the faux inlay, and you'd need to repolish or perhaps varnish it, and you'd lose the faux flame mahogany unless you can recreate it.

Anyway, nice pieces, although I can see they might dominate a small room.

In our first house we had a Maple wardrobe, a triple, with matching dressing chest. Its size made it a casualty of our first house move. Lovely quality.

Ivor