I am attempting to repair a once-exquisite Gigasso coffee table. Two of the gold scrolls on the feet have broken off and the top needs to be refinished. I wanted to obtain the product name of the gold paint for the scrolls and of the finish used on the table’s top, but was unable to find any manufacturer info. I would appreciate any ideas/suggestions. Thank you.
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Replies
Very nice looking table.
That may be gold leaf rather than paint.
The finish could be French polish, a hand polishing technique involving mostly shellac.
That is quite spectacular.
I'm suggesting that the product required is Gold. Manufacturer - God. Or the merging of neutron stars, if you are more prosaic.
The finish may require testing. If alcohol makes it tacky, then it's shellac. If acetone, then it's lacquer. It's most likely one or the other.
Do you know it's history? Depending on its age and origin it could have some value. On the other hand they still make furniture like that today and you can purchase furniture like that from anywhere from $350 to the Liberachi model for $35000. My first thought was that the gold is gold leaf but they do fake it quite well on reproductions and probably harder to properly repair without an industrial setting than if it is in fact gold. The most likely finish for something like that would indeed be French polish. If it is old and taller than a contemporary coffee table then it's a "tea" table. What they drank when the baroque style was the style. If it's low it's probably not that old and a coffee table suited to our low contemporary sofas. So, the question is ,is it a genuine antique? If it is then you need to proceed carefully. Repair it in your garage or take it to a conservator? I knew a person once that was a gold leaf repair man for the MET, so those people do exist. A botched repair or refinish on a valuable antique will kill the value. More valuable broken than repaired. If on the other hand it's not some heirloom antique if you don't fix it you have nothing.
Spam revival, funny one selling table legs.