An authentic approach to the line decoration and treatment of the sides on Victorian pieces is to draw a single line inside the panel. This line is placed unusually close to the edge, but I copied that placement from the remnants of an incised carpenter's mark from the original decoration the piece had 125 years ago. That finish was long gone, but I could see where they marked it to have a line with this placement (only in a different color). This line is similarly worn and glazed as elswhere on the piece.
Is this sweet or what? I love the play of horizontal vs vertical stripes on this piece. It's formal, but fun.
My eye is just darting around everywhere with these lively rich gilt incised decoration. I love this shot... If you look carefully at the top edge of the protruding squre, above where the pinwheel is carved, you can see where I've painted this edge in with the gold leaf, just as they would have done in the Victorian time, but then I applied extra dark glaze over top of it, so that its patina is darker than the other gold accents. This gives the subtle impression of realism that the edge has worn and collected dirt over the course of 125 years of age. Very realistic....
Here is a great angle of the distressed wear on the top, and the satin sheen of the finish. It's worn, but not overworn. Well used, but polished. The sweet sophisticate.
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