Victorian? Walnut? Secretaire Bookcase

[Mithrandir]

Hi guys,

I recently purchased this secretaire bookcase. The seller thought it might be Victorian and made of walnut, but said she was not at all sure. First question I guess is what kind of wood is this? You will see from the photos that the interior of the lower cabinet door is a much darker/richer brown so is it possible that the exterior has been faded by the sun? I know that these secretaire bookcases were usually mahogany, walnut or oak so I am guessing it is likely one of those?

I (someone who does not have access to professional tools or the time to spend endless hours on projects) would like to keep the piece well maintained, in particular the wood finish. I usually like darker woods and would like to keep the wood finish lustrous and would potentially be interested in restoring a darker tone if indeed the exterior has been bleached by sunlight. What is the easiest way to maintain this piece for someone who doesn't have endless time? Should I just use oil (Danish oil perhaps?) once a year? Or wax or polish? Don't really understand the difference, however in the past I have used Danish oil on (teak) pieces and found it to be suited to my level of skill... Should this piece be stripped first (by a professional, not by me!)? Would applying oil darken the finish any or is there some easy way to do this?

Thanks for any tips you might be able to give me.

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[auscab]

Its more an Edwardian or Art Nouveau period design with the decoration. It looks like Walnut or possibly something very similar to Walnut. In some parts it doesn't look like Walnut. It could be the quality of the photographs doing that? Secondary timbers are some sort of Pine .

To Maintain / Revive it a bit, don't put anything other than a wipe over with an Oil and turps mix 20% linsed oil 80% mineral turps . Wipe on and wipe off. It will soak and darken any dry scratches / marks into raw wood . And get the dry dust look out of the quirks and recesses . Its got to be properly wiped off dry though . Very important.
Or give it a wax with a commercial Antique wax . This does the same as above but also will buff up a little when dry . It does leave a wax cover that shows finger marks more easy though on a polish job like whats on it. Wax is better on hard polish finishes like that when they have a lot more patina.

Don't try and darken with anything unless you want to cause a lot of work or destroy the piece. Don't put Danish Oil anywhere near it for the same reason . You don't want to put anything that sets hard on top of that finish or you will have to re finish it. And for that you either need the skill to fix it , or spend between one and two Grand$ paying someone with the skill.

You can get dark waxes to apply as above. Jackpol is one brand. Looks like Black boot polish. It will only darken raw scratches and dust in crevices. Not the over all appearance. Unless its very dry and scratched up or Raw wood. Its one of My favorites for pieces with lots of Patina.

Rob

Edit . I like the way it fits that space you have it in . You don't get a much tighter a fit than that .
How are you going to use the piece ? Sit and write at it sometimes ?

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[Mithrandir]

Thanks Rob for the tips. If I use the wax as suggested is (linseed) oil still necessary or are they interchangeable? For some reason I had it in my head that you can wax every few months but still need to oil about once a year.

I used Danish oil on a mid century table I have which looks pretty good - hopefully I have not used the wrong product?

Out of interest, where do you think the pine component is on this bookcase?

[Mithrandir]

Also Rob, just wondering if you recommend products like Howards Feed-n-Wax or Howards Restore-a-Finish for a piece like this as these are available near where I live

[auscab]

Thanks Rob for the tips. If I use the wax as suggested is (linseed) oil still necessary or are they interchangeable? For some reason I had it in my head that you can wax every few months but still need to oil about once a year.

I used Danish oil on a mid century table I have which looks pretty good - hopefully I have not used the wrong product?

Out of interest, where do you think the pine component is on this bookcase?

If you start to use wax stick with that . Using a mix of oil and turps will cause problems by taking the wax off if you do that later after waxing.
You could wax later if you fist started using oil and turps though. The oil and turps gets wiped off and only stays in scratches and crevices mainly. Then dries off.
Danish oil is a drying oil and is used to coat and build a finish. Its possible it could also be used as a reviver by wiping on and taking it all of leaving it only in scratches and crevices . I don't know about that . I wouldn't be laying it over a FP job to re coat the whole thing though . Not if you want to keep things simple and easy.

One of your pictures shows a shelf , back boards and a base to the top I think . It all looks like pine . Maybe not the shelf or its front ?
This one .

Also Rob, just wondering if you recommend products like Howards Feed-n-Wax or Howards Restore-a-Finish for a piece like this as these are available near where I live

Ive never used it . With a guess if its been made for antique finishes then it should be OK .

Some modern finishes and revivers have silicon which is no good for the piece. Stick with traditional stuff .

[Mithrandir]

Thanks Rob,

It sounds like the Jackpol wax you recommended is probably the best bet - I will give that a go in the neutral colour.

[ubeaut]

Very nice looking piece. However, is it a genuine antique or a reproduction from the Philippines or similar. Looks like a mishmash of timbers maybe mahogany, maybe walnut and pine of some sort on the base of the cupboard section (pic5). To me it looks a lot like Philippine Mahogany.

As a rule an antique wouldn't be finished on the inside of the book cabinet but would be raw wood to allow the timber to draw moisture from the books and stop mould and mildew forming on/in books. Same with the drawers.

There are a lot of excellent knockoffs around at the moment and it is hard to tell them from originals.

Just my personal opinion. Doesn't mean I'm right.

Blatant advert below:
If it does need some restoration and it doesn't really look like it does to me from the pics. The below will do the job really well, but if it's in good nick I suggest just leave it alone and enjoy it.
Polish Reviver, followed up with Traditional Wax (Neutral) if needed.
The polish reviver will also make it hard to mark up the finish with water, alcohol and heat.

Cheers - Neil