How to recreate this finish/patina?

Howdy folks,
I'm presently faced with the challenge of trying to recreate a finish like the one on this table for a smaller stand of a similar style.

The table is finished with multiple coats of wiped on/wiped off Japanese urushi lacquer + 200 years or so of temple incense and candle smoke, dust, grime, water and whatever else its been exposed to during its life, resulting in a thin yet fine and slightly faded looking smokey red surface with shinier and duller spots of grime and soot.
The wood is keyaki/zelkova, also known as Japanese elm. I'm planning on using European elm to approximate it owing to the difficulty in acquiring the original material.

My current thoughts are along the lines of layered up aniline dyes, shellac, water stains, wax, rotten stone and using good old fashioned resinous conifer and straw smoke to get the necessary degree of tar and blackness built up, but i'm just curious as to whether anyone else has any potentially better and easier ideas?

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The most controllable way I could think of doing that would be with a darker wax over stain/shellac, and rub it off to leave the darker detailing in the nooks and crannies. You could do the same with stains, but these are harder to correct if it goes horribly wrong.

Here's the first google result that wasn't an overt product selling blog - Lilyfield Life: Starters' Guide: how to Antique Painted Furniture using Dark Wax

I have never finished an entire repro to match/fake an antique finish, but I think that what you are planning, with some assistance from the black wax recommended by Master Splinter should get you close. I have matched an old finish on a chest of drawers or table when I have had to fit new feet or repaired finials, roundels etc. using some concentrated shellac mixed with aniline stains. I paint that on much darker than I want then rub it back with 0000 steel wool when it is dry. I finish with the black wax. I keep a variety of stain/shellac concentrates pre-mixed so I can test and play with the effects. A but of house dust sprinkled over as the sticky mix dries can add to the effect. I seal the timber with my basic brown button shellac before I start so that the stains do not sink into the timber - that way I can scrub off the mix if I have made a mess. I usually practice on some samples before I do the final and often finis up with some spare, finished pieces as a result.

We used to use wattle toners T1-6, I don't know if this is still available but it can give an antique look if applied properly.

This is definitely where "art" meets technique - ageing techniques are developed over time ... the general tone of this piece is likely to be fairly straightforward but as you rightly point out, years of use is the challenge and can only be done using "art" I use a wide range of things (which I have laying around) but in general I settle on a finish/patination that while looking great to others, falls short in my own eyes. When I worked at Dattner, staff spent roughly the same time finishing a piece as making it. We mainly used W.L Grimes stains, http://www.grimesandsons.com to get the tones right .... and a LOT of owner-made tools to get the desired aged look. As far as the blackened areas are concerned, you could use black or mission brown spray cans, rubbed back/off in areas, then built up with black wax, also rubbed back etc.

Dings and scrapes are a challenge to get perfect, but a very worthy process - I spend a lot of time working on a piece to "tell its story" .. one thing I NEVER do though, is hit something every four inches with a rock or chain .... it does distress - just not the piece ... only me.

I use a bunch of different things including sandpaper, steel wool, rasps, files, hammers, the back edge of a putty knife etc. to age something including for example, the shaft of a screwdriver on edges (of a table) to soften them down and produce a shiny surface, as if years of forearms have moved back and forth while cutting meat on them. I also have a stiff wire brush with a LOT of bristles removed that I hit a piece with to begin emulating woodworm. But you can make up a small mallet with various nails in it etc. to do the same ... just have to make sure you alternate strokes to avoid repetition - once the eye picks that up, the effect is lost.

Finally (thank god you say!) - it is great to have a piece from which to gauge what to do ... images abound of original pieces and prior to commencing what I call Detail-Ageing a piece, I try to 'read' the patina of an original wither in images or physical form then work to replicate that.

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Hi Seriph1,

Is that a piece that you have "aged" or the original that you refer to before you begin to age something? I can't tell from the photograph.

My opinion: I do believe that it is very important not to misrepresent a new piece that has been "aged" as an antique as that is fakery. A new piece made to look like an antique will not usually/rarely be as valuable as an antique. I have known people who made fakes and put them into auctions so unsuspecting buyers would presume they were antique and pay much more than the item was worth. That is a kind of fraud. When I have repaired/restored an antique and matched an old finish it has always been for myself or a family member and the replaced part/repair is known or declared. If the item has later been sold (a very rare occasion as I am a collector, not a dealer) the work that I have done has always been declared. Honest antique dealers do the same.

That piece is an 18th century original. Regarding the practices of deceiving the public, I agree. That said, when commissioned to make a detail-aged piece of furniture there is no deception involved.

Thieves are thieves.

Building a piece to a specification, to be enjoyed is completely different.