Just saw a museum piece in Boston with a finish I can't figure out

I was at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston yesterday and saw an 18th century side table with this incredible, almost glass-like finish. It wasn't glossy like a modern polyurethane, but it had a deep, soft glow. One restorer I talked to there thought it was a traditional shellac and wax, but another said it might be an early varnish with linseed oil. Has anyone worked on a piece with a similar finish and knows how to replicate that specific look?

2 comments

2 Comments

lucas_carr241mo ago

I read somewhere that old shellac finishes get that glassy look after decades of careful waxing.

emma_smith1mo ago

Ok so I used to be one of those people who thought the old shellac look was mostly just about putting on enough coats and buffing it out. But then I actually tried to replicate a piece from the 1700s with just shellac and wax and it came out looking way too flat and dull. I had to strip it and start over. Now I'm pretty convinced it's the combination of a really thin oil varnish base underneath the shellac that gives it that deep glow. The linseed oil guy might be onto something because that early varnish recipe soaks into the wood differently. Once I added that step the finish finally started to look like the old museum pieces.