fabulous antique trunk

A client brought me this trunk ~ a true antique from somewhere in Switzerland.  Before you panic & think that I painted it, don't worry :)  I didn't.  However, I did have to do something about that horrid crack that had been even-more-horribly filled by someone.  It took me a looooong time to remove all of that excess wood filler.

First, I just used some AS clear wax to bring out the best of the painted piece.  It had gotten a bit dingy and whitish in some places and the wax was brilliant with it.  These three photos are after I applied the wax.

The client's goal was to somehow minimize the huge crack on the top and to paint the top to match one of the colors beneath.  I chose to go for the blue you see in the picture above.

First I sanded for what seemed like hours.  Then I put on a pretty good coat of Aubusson, let it dry, then chunked a lot of it off with both sandpaper and a cabinet scraper.  I don't think I got a good picture of that step.

Next, I painted it with some Old-Fashioned Milk Paint in Soldier Blue… and again, took a lot of it off.  Here it is after the milk paint:

And finally, here is what I was left with:

The ultimate compliment to me was when several neighbors expressed horror that I might paint this piece, and I got to tell them that I had *already* painted it :)  They thought the blue was original.  Success!  You can still see the crack, but it is much less obvious… and truly, for a piece of this age that has obviously traveled so far, some wear is to be expected.

thanks!

kathie