As seen in The Antique Shoppe Newspaper, January 2009

Q. Twenty years ago I purchased an unusual Robert W. Irwin Art Deco dining room set which resembles Eliel Saarinen's design. The set is complete with hutch, half moon serving table, buffet, table with leaves and chairs. I researched the company and the designer but could not come up with much information. Maybe you could shed some light on this for me. Roger H.

A.. The company, located in Grand Rapids, did make some Art Deco furniture in the 1930's but not a great deal of it. Most of it was designed by William Hoffman until he opened his own shop in 1933. After that all the designs were all done in-house as far as I can tell.

The link to Eliel Saarinen is tenuous at best. The great Finnish architect did design some extraordinary furniture. His early 20th century work reflected his Finnish heritage with a nod to Art Noveau and Arts & Craft. His later work at the Cranbrook Academy of Art in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan did reflect some of the elements of Art Deco of the period. His "Blue Suite", 1929, is very trendy for the time and his dining suite for the Saarinen house at Cranbrook, 1929-1930, does have a sunburst inlaid top similar to the one on your buffet.

However, to suggest that the design of the Irwin set is a Saarinen design would require a much deeper study than I currently have time to conduct. I would welcome comments from readers with additional information about Roger's set. 

Q. My current little project is about to make me crazy. I have made a very nice contemporary coffee table out of solid maple and birch plywood. Now I want to stain a chess board into the center but I am having a problem. Even though I taped off the pattern with masking tape, the stain keeps bleeding through the grain into the adjoining space. Fortunately I have been working on scrap lumber so I haven't ruined the table yet. I know I could probably just spray paint the pattern but that is not the look I want. Any suggestions? George H., Chagrin Falls, OH

A. The birch ply (which I assume is the top surface) is more porous than it looks. The stain (presumably oil based) is migrating through the wood under the tape since the drying time for oils is so lengthy.

First be sure you have a high quality masking tape. Use an expensive brand like Colonial or 3M. Then apply a thin washcoat of sealer to the background. A washcoat is a very diluted coat of finish which is meant to seal the pores of the wood with little or no build up. Shellac thinned 50/50 with denatured alcohol makes suitable washcoat for most purposes. Apply the washcoat sparingly. Remember you are just to seal up the wood, not build up the finish.

After the washcoat dries lay out your checkerboard pattern with new masking tape and apply another thin washcoat around the edges of the tape to seal out surface migration of the stain. An alternative to the second washcoat is to score the wood at the tape edge inside the pattern with a razor blade or xacto knife. This also stops surface migration. However, while this method is quicker because you don't have to wait for the second coat to dry, it is very easy to make a mistake with the knife which is very difficult to fix, especially on a birch ply top. Better to play it safe if you have the time.

After the second washcoat dries thoroughly, stain the pattern. Try using a gel stain instead of an oil based stain this time though. It bleeds a lot less and you can control its placement a little better. Be sure you wipe it evenly, removing the buildup that will accumulate along the tape edges. This buildup will dry and create ridges which may have to be carefully sanded off later.

If you are using alternating colors, as opposed to leaving one set of squares natural, repeat the process on the alternating sections after the first ones have dried a few days. Then apply your finish. 

Q. Fred, I'm wondering if you have any information about a company named Colby's. I recently purchased a kidney shaped desk with beautiful and complicated veneers, inlays and marquetry. On the underside of the desk is a small brass tag bearing the name Colby's and a 5 digit number. I believe the desk was made in the late 20's. I live in Chicago and there used to be a furniture store by the name of Colby's, but I don't know if it dated back that far or if they made furniture. I suppose another option is that Colby's did not make, but sold the piece and put its label on it. What do you know about Colby's? Thanks for any help you can provide.

A. Eliot - Colby's was the last name used by a company founded in 1869 by John Colby and Jacob Wirts. The name was changed to John A. Colby & Co. in 1879 and to John A. Colby & Sons in 1885. The change to Colby's occurred in the mid 1940s. That means your desk was made after that since not much fancy furniture was made during the War. Colby's was mostly a furniture retailer, having closed its factory in the 1920s. It is very possible that Colby's had a well known manufacturer make these items for them and affix their own label. One major manufacturer of kidney shaped items in the 1920's and early1930's was Widdicomb Furniture Co of Grand Rapids who made a large variety of European Revival models such as Italian and Venetian. Yours could very well be one of those models with its elegant inlay work.

The kidney shape in furniture first began showing up in the18th century furniture of France and England. English kidney desks were popular into the early 19th century and then seemed to fade away for awhile. The shape is difficult to work with and fell out of favor with handcraftsmen. The great mechanized furniture making binge of the early 1900's revived the form, especially in America, and some examples are still being made today.

**NOTE: ANTIQUE SHOPPE NEWSPAPER DOES NOT SELL ANTIQUES OF ANY SORT. WE ARE STRICTLY A PUBLISHING COMPANY AND PRINT ARTICLES ON VARIOUS ANTIQUES**

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