Bobby wrote:

Hello, Group!

I am in the process of restoring an old secretary that has been in my
family for at least three generations. In order to better understand
what I am dealing with I have a few questions.
1. What might be the age of the piece?
2. Does anyone have any more information about Matthews Brothers or
have similar pieces created by the same manufacturer? (See picture
P1010023.jpg and file WAG_99_kirschner.pdf)
3. What type of wood do you think this is?
4. What would be the best finish for this piece?
5. Note the unusual joints in the drawer. Is there a name for this type
of joinery? Where could I get more information on this technique?

I have uploaded pictures and links he
http://www.awhangar.com/restoration/Matthews_secretary/

Thank you for your help!

Bobby


First - please, please, please
a) crop the picture to remove extraneous stuff
b) resize the image to get the file size down
you can also increase the compression without
losing much of the details
500-600K files take a while to download.

I've done this to two of the piciures, got them down
to about 40K and have posted them to
alt.binaries.pictures.woodworking
(not everyone has DSL or a cable modem)

the circle and peg drawer joinery - it was
machine made - a production joint that, while
probably as strong as dovetails, apparently
never caught on. I asked about this joint a few
years back and was told it was only around
for about 5 years - in the 1860s as I recall
and developed and used by several furnitute
makers in St. Louis or Chicago for the west
coast market.

The piece looks like a mass market piece,
designed for production - integral cock
beading but just top and bottom of drawers,
not the sides, what may be stamped "carving",
shallow grooved dentil molding and rail
and stile glass door frames, the glass in
the doors show no wavyness so they've
probably been replaced

Primary wood, as suggested in another
response, is probably pine but could
be cherry.

As for the finish - could be shellac.
Find an out of view spot and see if
denatured alcohol softens or removes
the finish. If it does, it's likely shellac.

charlie b