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Antiques & Collectibles

Antique dresser? Wondering about possible age.

8 years ago

I purchased this dresser from Kijiji to refinish and was wondering what time period it might be from and what the style is called. It has a square beveled mirror and the joints are dovetailed. It is made of solid wood. The furniture tags says Canada Furniture Manufacturing Union Shop Wingham, ON and it has a CFM Union stamp on the back. Anyone have any ideas?

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Sombreuil

8 years ago

Beautiful stenciled faux oak graining. Keep the refinisher far, far away!

Casey

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Comments (12)

natalieinitaly
Original Author
8 years ago
Oh it's stenciled. That explains a lot. The wood grain underneath didn't match and there was no veneer and it was definitely not a sticker (like modern crap furniture) so I was wondering what the finish was.

It's a beautiful piece with a huge mirror and rather heavy for the size. I would like to put it in my bedroom. Casey, do you know anything about restoring stenciling? I don't want to ruin it while trying to fix it up. I don't know if it's worth anything but I also don't want to destroy the value.

Natalie
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PRO
Sombreuil
8 years ago
"Inpainting" with artist's colors. Anything looks better than the exposed "whitewood'.
natalieinitaly thanked Sombreuil
babbs50
8 years ago
That oak look finish will come right off if you strip it. The piece is probably from the early 1920's.
natalieinitaly thanked babbs50
natalieinitaly
Original Author
8 years ago
It looks like I will be trying my hand at inpainting because it was the oak looks that drew me to the piece. Any tips?
lazy_gardens
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
Take a picture of the top, print it out and practice on the paper. Take good notes about which colors you used. Do it again with clear plastic over the spot you are repairing to double check your choiced.

And apply one coat of clear shellac on the top before you overpaint so it doesn't soak into the wood. Then protect the top because the overpainting is susceptible to damage.

That's fake tiger oak. The oak was extremely popular but not plentiful, so low-priced manufacturers resorted to painting on the grain they wanted onto a plainer wood. The underlying wood is going to be alder or whatever is easy to work and cheap in the area.
natalieinitaly thanked lazy_gardens
lindac92
8 years ago
And this piece even with the painting restored is worth lots more than it would be stripped and refinished....chances are it's not oak under the faux grain.
natalieinitaly thanked lindac92
natalieinitaly
Original Author
8 years ago
Thanks all! Lazy_gardens you cut off at the end there;) It doesn't look like Oak under the faux grain but I can't see it enough to tell. The drawer frames and the back of the boxes are pine but it's way too heavy to be all pine.
lindac92
8 years ago
It's not likely oak under the faux grain......more likely a smooth grain hardwood like birch or maple.
natalieinitaly thanked lindac92
lazy_gardens
8 years ago
I stripped one of those because the faux finish was totally wrecked.

I was aghast to find birdseye maple!
natalieinitaly thanked lazy_gardens
lindac92
8 years ago
AACK!!
natalieinitaly
Original Author
8 years ago
I was going to strip this but you have definitely convinced me not to. The faux finish is still in good shape on the drawer fronts and sides of the dresser. The top needs a fix though and it should be a fun project.

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