1850's sea chest

[BobL]

SWMBO has been cleaning up her recently deceased mum's place and a couple of weeks back we decide to bring home a circa 1850's camphor wood sea chest that has been in the family for at least that period.
From what I can see and given its age, it's in pretty good nick except that in the last 40 years it has been in a corner in her mum's bedroom and the cleaners only applied whatever furniture polish they had on hand to the front, top and the exposed side. As a result the the other side has slightly dried out and lost its sheen.

My question is, is there anything that can be applied that can rejuvenate the dried wood?

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Here's the side that has sort of dried out - sorry it doesn't really show up in this photo.

[auscab]

The sort of piece normally described under Anglo Indian Bob. Pretty sure it was sold a lot in the UK . It turns up all the time through local auctions here.

History Of Anglo Indian Furniture In India - Collectors' Corner Exports


A dry side can be wiped over with a linseed oil and turps mix 20 / 80 mix for a quick fix . Its a good all over reviver as long as the piece isn't a heavily waxed piece from the earlier days of waxing only for a finish . You tell by scratching it with your finger nail and if it does what the side of a candle would do, don't oil and turps .

That'll be a shellac or varnish finish by the looks so O&T should be good .

Next level is to start waxing it for an easy fix . Wax on and buff off same as shoes are done .

The good fix is a revive with shellac . A fine cut back with fine paper washed with O&T buffed dry and then a rubber of diluted shellac built up.
If you've never done french polishing then its a bit of a learning curve . learn to do it properly and its the best way of being able to adjust a finish to just where its needed to be, and to finish with the level of shine that's right . Beginners struggle and struggle and struggle as can be seen from acres of forum pages all around the world with FP. That's when its from raw wood up . Reviving dry finishes is a bit easier .