Featured peranakan his and hers cupboards

dear all

just sharing.
grandparents wedding cupboards. these were essential furniture pieces for all newly married. i don't know what the wood is, but it looks very dry now cos has been in storage and neglected. should i apply some wood polish to it?

regards
phaik hooi



bottom carvings of cupboard. spot the chinese lion head

 

Beautiful! I would oil it. Here in the US we have a product called Watco Danish oil that is a penetrating oil for use on teak. You could make a similar product by thinning down some tung oil with mineral spirits. You could apply straight tung oil but I think thinning it a bit first will allow it to penetrate better and make it easier to get inside all the carvings.

 

okie dokie!!
you think the wood is teak?

 

Not sure. Possibly but could be some other tropical hardwood. Really don't know what the norm would be for such furniture. The oil would work on any type of wood.

 

noted. tq.

 

How lovely. Assume the floral fabric lining and passementerie original.

Debora

 

verybrad's advice about oil is great, but before you apply the oil it would be a good idea to take a medium firm natural bristle brush, maybe an old hairbrush or shoe shine brush to remove any loose dust particles. The bottom molding appears to have quite an accumulation and if oiled as it sits would saturate the dust into the wood, causing discoloration.

 

yes

 

noted. it is very very dusty indeed!!

 

Gorgeous, Phaik. They shout Peranakan. And they have dragons.
They look like Javanese/Madurese Peranakan, probably teak from East Java.
They've got everything. The square scrolling is very Chinese, the floral carving Indonesian or Malay, the urns with flowers and the frames are very Dutch, the little birds on the floral scrolls are classic Peranakan.