1830's Chair Cleaning questions

[sawnuts]

I am involved with a historic village that maintains a number of buildings.
I have been asked to clean/restore a chair that was made on site in the 1830's. 

I am looking to do a very minimalist restore on this.
1. Some removal of failed paint.
2. A light cleaning with some cleaner.
3. Possibly a coat of varnish

Questions are:

1. What finishes were used in the period. I'm thinking nothing or paint or maybe a varnish type.
2. What to use to clean the wood.
3. Is putting a coat of shellac even needed? 

This will never be used as it was intended and will be a display piece.


I'd like to spend some time improving the design of the pedestal it sits on.
I think that presenting the chair properly will go a long way towards making it look better.

Any ideas on a nice stand to elevate if. The current one is just not doing it for me. I'm talking about the plywood stand you see in the pics.

Any help would be appreciated.

[jteneyck]

I am involved with a historic village that maintains a number of buildings.
I have been asked to clean/restore a chair that was made on site in the 1830's. 

I am looking to do a very minimalist restore on this.
1. Some removal of failed paint.
2. A light cleaning with some cleaner.
3. Possibly a coat of varnish

Questions are:

1. What finishes were used in the period. I'm thinking nothing or paint or maybe a varnish type.
2. What to use to clean the wood.
3. Is putting a coat of shellac even needed? 

This will never be used as it was intended and will be a display piece.


I'd like to spend some time improving the design of the pedestal it sits on.
I think that presenting the chair properly will go a long way towards making it look better.

Any ideas on a nice stand to elevate if. The current one is just not doing it for me. I'm talking about the plywood stand you see in the pics.

Any help would be appreciated.

Were you asked to clean it or restore it?  What you should do is completely different depending upon the answer.  If it's clean it, only, then I would do no more than scrub it with a synthetic brush to remove any loose paint, etc.  If it is to restore it then you have a lot bigger undertaking, depending upon how far you want to go.  

To restore it you would first scrub it with a synthetic brush, then most likely sand it to remove the remaining paint, or to at least make it smooth.  If the idea is to make it look brand new then you would have to fill the cracks with wood filler and sand that smooth.  If it's just to make it look "better" then you wouldn't do that; I wouldn't.  I don't see any varnish on top of the paint but there could have been.  Maybe a closer inspection will reveal what was used on it.  The original paint might have been a milk paint, but I don't really know.  If you don't really care, then you could use pretty much any paint you feel like, and apply it to all or as little of the chair as you want.  Personally, it would seem inappropriate to me to cover it with a shiny new paint job.  At the very most I would paint it and then rub through the paint to simulate all those years of use and abuse.  At the least, I wouldn't do more than scrub it and leave it be.  

I have to agree; that base is bad.  How about just painting it some sort of off white?  

John  

John

[sawnuts]

Thanks John,

Sorry about the nomenclature mixup. I will not make it look like new. I think it has taken 1800 years to acquire this look and I'm not about to erase or cover that up.

One board member said they would like it to look like it just came out of the factory. I asked them if it was painted or had shellac or varnish or was just raw wood when it was made. I think that ended the conversation. I suggested that they have a replica made.


I am thinking about painting the base flat black. That will not catch the eye and it should present the chair in a better light.

Thanks

Mark

[jteneyck]

Thanks John,

Sorry about the nomenclature mixup. I will not make it look like new. I think it has taken 1800 years to acquire this look and I'm not about to erase or cover that up.

One board member said they would like it to look like it just came out of the factory. I asked them if it was painted or had shellac or varnish or was just raw wood when it was made. I think that ended the conversation. I suggested that they have a replica made.


I am thinking about painting the base flat black. That will not catch the eye and it should present the chair in a better light.

Thanks

Mark

Yep, black makes a lot of sense.  

John