The Golden State: Where & How to Live, Secure, Visit, Enjoy and Thrive in California
Furniture Finishing
COLORING THE DECORATION
The next step is the coloring of the relief figures, which is frequently done with gold burnishing bronze and bronzing liquid or gold or silver leaf. Again they may be polychromed with thin glaze washes of black, brown, red. green or yellow japan color in turpentine, or painted solid and then picked out in bright spots of these colors according to the subject—the leaves of a tree, petals of a flower, feathers of a bird. eyes, hair ornaments, etc. Borders of striping, lattice or fret work are executed in harmonizing japan colors or silver or gold lining bronze and varnish bronzing liquid, the last over guide lines of yellow ochre or flake white in japan.
Over all of this and often on the background as well is applied an antique glaze coat of very thin burnt umber and Van Dyke brown and turpentine to soften the colors which glow softly through.
Lacquer shading stains may be misted on the background, applied with a spray, but shading on decorations must be done by hand for a real antique effect. The piece is then ready for the protective coats of flat lacquer, flat varnish, or gloss varnish or shellac to be rubbed dull, although with lacquer enamel on the background, these finishing coats are not always essential.
THE STYLE OF FURNITURE
Strictly speaking, oriental lacquering and decoration should be confined to pieces of Chinese or Japanese design. In actual practice, however, pier bookcases, consoles, desk cabinets, china cabinets, end tables and novelty furniture of the most modern types of design are equally favored. Sometimes the entire piece is painted or lacquered and the oriental decoration applied only to a part. Again, a portion only may be colored and decorated, the remainder gold bronzed or finished in regular walnut stain and clear lacquer or varnish.
The radio cabinet illustrated is an example of the latter, and is Chinese Chippendale in design. The upper section is lacquered and decorated with oriental decorations of the raised type, the interior finished and decorated to match. The brass ornamental hinges are sprayed with clear flat lacquer and the center half-round moulding is painted to match the panel background color and antique glazed. The lower portion is walnut, with burl centers framed with paint striping and hand-sawed aprons overlayed with blister-maple fretted tracery joining typical square, grooved Chinese legs. The whole is delicately sprayshaded with a softening fog coat.
