Hey everyone! My family has this Gaskell and Chambers "Dalex" inlaid table. It has damage to the inlay, and we want to either restore the inlay or replace it. I have been able to research enough to find that "Dalex" refers to the branding of the items made by Gaskell & Chambers that were first made at the Dalex Works (later Dales End Works) in Birmingham, England. Problem is, I still don't know what the material is. Our first guess was that "Dalex" was a trademarked material, since that's what a lot of search results say (due to antique websites just saying it without evidence). The second thought was that it was bakelite, but it has failed all of the tests, and doesn't seem to be that. An old catalogue from the early 20th century has a description that also mentions "miroc" but I still can't determine what the material for the inlay would be. So, does anyone have any experience with Gaskell & Chambers pub furniture? Any help would be appreciated!
Yep, that's the catalogue page I mentioned. I have seen both of these, and I have more pictures, but they weren't uploading properly. Basically, Dalex is the name of the Dalex Works building that Gaskell & Chambers used in Birmingham. So, just having Dalex on it hasn't really been super useful.
It's proprietary branding. Unlikely the maker would share much more. Can't you look it up on the government registration site? Debora
I've been trying to look on the UK registration, I just can't find information on the material used, only registrations for the patents, but no details on the material of this inlay.
This seems to be an active Forum. There's a thread about Gaskell & Chambers, I've linked to the conversation. Maybe you could post there and see if they know about Dalex. https://birminghamhistory.co.uk/forum/threads/gaskell-and-chambers.24876/