French Polishing Technique

This is thought to be a Cumberland table supplied to Henry Frederick the Duke of Cumberland. (One of George III’s brothers) all the leafs had varying discolouration the polish had bleached over time with an additional leaf added on later which was considerably darker. The client wanted the item French polished and the colour balanced out. So we stripped the tops and stained/colour matched all leafs. This was achieved using different mixtures of water stains as well as oxalic acid to remove some of the old water marks French polish was then built up to a full grain. This involved building up layers and layers of french polish and cutting back. We eventually finished it with a wax finish dulling down the french polish to create a smooth satin effect.