Thanks for the nice comments, guys. I probably will submit it to FWW, but so far they have not bitten on anything I have previously sent them. Maybe this time.
Mark,
This finish starts with a distilled water grain raising session, followed by 320, by hand. Then a coat of water diluted lemon yellow Transtint dye. Then a coat of powdered garden lime (1 tablespoon per pint), which I scrubbed in with a gray 3M abrasive pad. Then a water cleaning, drying time, and shellac. Did a bit of toning to even out the color where the wood was not well color matched. I top coated with lacquer, and hope I don’t regret that decision.
Carl,
You are correct that the writing gallery is unusual. The original of this piece was by John Townsend, and the teacher stated that this was one of only 3 of the documented Townsend pieces that had that feature. There are 13 drawers, each dovetailed, of course. Someday I will have to count the DT’s on this guy, but there are quite a few. Maybe excessive DT’ing was the reason there were so few. Carpal Dovetail Syndrome?
Zahid,
The piece is signed on the underfloor of the kneehole compartment. There is a false bottom in the kneehole, which is activated by pushing down on the very rear of the bottom shelf. A secret compartment, so to speak.