Author Topic: Blanket Chest  (Read 10472 times)

mart

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Re: Blanket Chest
« Reply #15 on: August 19, 2012, 06:21:06 pm »
The painted items I have seen were a mixture of both semi transparent and more opaque !! I don`t think that with that type of painting any grain would show !! The lines would pretty much eliminate that on most of it !!  Thanks all for the pics !!
Your pic is brighter Sapphire,, thanks !! I can see that it did have pulls on the top !!  Wish I had an old chest I would make me one of those !! Love that first paint technique that Garth had !!
« Last Edit: August 19, 2012, 06:25:34 pm by mart »

mart

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Re: Blanket Chest
« Reply #16 on: August 19, 2012, 06:28:54 pm »
Now back to this blanket chest !! Still waiting on detail pics !!  I don`t think this one was ever painted !!  I think it was a bit later when much was made in pine !!

bigwull

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Re: Blanket Chest
« Reply #17 on: August 19, 2012, 06:31:22 pm »
On many older types of furniture,especially pieces that were made of,what we here in the UK,call, yellow pine or Victorian pine...or to give it its proper name Oregon Pine,..Gesso was used to prime the surface,.and it covered any imperfections in the wood,such as knots and irregularities in the grain.this is a primer using a binder,e.g. liquid glue,chalk,gypsum,the wood was painted then a varnish was applied,...then a regular grain could be made by the use of a combing effect....a bit like the application of Paint and Grain,that was popular in the 1980,s I am at present restoring an old Pine Kist....or Blanket Box as it is sometimes known,but here in Scotland it is called a Kist,...when I got it it was varnished,to make it look like old dark Oak,..this was evident when even the old steel hinges had varnish on them with a grain running through,..the surface of the Kist,looked to be perfect, but when i stripped the varnish off,i uncovered the yellow Gesso primer,and when this was removed, i could then see Knots in the surface,that were not evident when i first got the Kist,...I will post pics in a few days to show what I mean...
I make no excuses,and no apologies....but i like a good Malt,

RugRat5288

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Re: Blanket Chest
« Reply #18 on: August 19, 2012, 07:53:32 pm »
What do you mean by "poor condition", ....... it looks pretty good to me.

the drawers are hardly supported and tip back.  top has a crack across it. all hardware has been changed including hinges.  both coners on the front by front legs are broken and just sitting in place. It had drawer pulls with two studs at one time as the holes are there and have been filled at some point as has the cracked top.
« Last Edit: August 19, 2012, 08:22:49 pm by RugRat5288 »

mart

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Re: Blanket Chest
« Reply #19 on: August 19, 2012, 08:00:59 pm »
If its the runner thats worn ,, might need a shim !!

RugRat5288

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Re: Blanket Chest
« Reply #20 on: August 19, 2012, 08:17:16 pm »
runners are more than worn they are sitting inside the drawers >:(

RugRat5288

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Re: Blanket Chest
« Reply #21 on: August 19, 2012, 08:19:30 pm »
more pictures
1st drawer dovetails
2nd drawer dovetails
3rd top view notice crack
« Last Edit: August 19, 2012, 08:29:28 pm by RugRat5288 »

RugRat5288

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Re: Blanket Chest
« Reply #22 on: August 19, 2012, 08:22:04 pm »
more pics

1st mock drawer front
2nd inside of top lid
3rd view into chest part
« Last Edit: August 19, 2012, 08:31:11 pm by RugRat5288 »

bigwull

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Re: Blanket Chest
« Reply #23 on: August 19, 2012, 08:40:49 pm »
These dovetails are hand cut.which means its very old,..my Kist/blanket box is circa 1920 and it has machine cut dovetails,I,ve corrected the 1902,..to what it is now...for my box
« Last Edit: August 20, 2012, 12:46:58 pm by bigwull »
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bbc-antiques.co.uk

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Re: Blanket Chest
« Reply #24 on: August 19, 2012, 08:49:58 pm »
Hi it is an early 19th century mule chest retail around £250
http://www.bbc-antiques.co.uk antiques York NorthYorkshire buy sell art

RugRat5288

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Re: Blanket Chest
« Reply #25 on: August 19, 2012, 08:53:52 pm »
I have read through these posts twice and never saw where anyone said this was in poor condition - so don't know where you saw that comment.

Good info jacon4!

Agree, pics of the sides of drawers, hardware need to be posted as well.

RugRat said it was poor in her opening statement....







I did but i'm a he not a her LOL!

KC

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Re: Blanket Chest
« Reply #26 on: August 19, 2012, 11:09:03 pm »
When I opened it this time a whole lot of posts that didn't show previously now show.  Interesting!

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jacon4

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Re: Blanket Chest
« Reply #27 on: August 20, 2012, 02:16:33 am »
Even though it has most likely lost it's paint, it is still worth a bit of restoration. Drawer runners are not a big deal to fix, ditto the strips of wood attached to the inside of case which the runners glide on. Some new drawer pulls and BAM, almost as good as new. I can see now the drawer blades are dovetailed into the case so i am revising my earlier time line to the 1st quarter, 19th century. I would note that there are artisans now who do paint like they did back in the day, check out this site

http://www.drcobleandcompany.com/index.html
« Last Edit: August 20, 2012, 02:40:22 am by jacon4 »

mart

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Re: Blanket Chest
« Reply #28 on: August 20, 2012, 04:43:23 am »
I have to pay homage to Jacon4 !! He had it pegged !! It is earlier than I thought when looking at the first pics !! The repairs sound like would not be too difficult and it is well worth saving !! Just don`t let an inexperienced person do it !! Perhaps you could do it and post pics in the projects section so we can see how it goes !!

cogar

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Re: Blanket Chest
« Reply #29 on: August 20, 2012, 07:16:18 am »
Quote
This is off thread but in much of early american furniture, it's ALL ABOUT THE PAINT! Back in the day, paint was a big deal and was done by a trained artisan who mixed dry colored pigments with a binder (usually oil,sometimes casin or milk) and made their own paint.

jacon4, I once bought a large, 4-quarter wood, open-shelf cupboard with a 1-board door on the bottom section. I could see that it had been painted at least a couple times in years gone by but didn’t have a clue how old it actually was.

Thus, I started scraping and stripping the paint off of it and “bingo”, the bottom layer of paint was a “mustard” color which looked more like a “heavy” stain than present day paint looks and which my “stripper” didn’t react too. Right then I knew it was a really oldie.

Anyway, to make a long story short, it took me several weeks of tedious work to remove all that new paint as best I could. And for a 2nd surprise, in two places on the sides of that cabinet I found initials and dates that matched the family name I bought it from, painted there in a darker “reddish” paint of the same vintage. I think I sold it to a dealer from Virginia.