by Jay Stallman
The Langley Boardman Chest case is made from mahogany with solid wide boards for the tops, which are secured to battens with screws from below. The serpentine drawer fronts are poplar, veneered with curly koa, satinwood, bird’s eye maple and bandings of rosewood, ebony and holly, with a mahogany cock bead. Each drawer has a false brass keyhole escutcheon surrounded by an ebony escutcheon. It has French feet (which flare out in two directions. They were inspired by the work of Al Breed. All veneering was done by hammer veneering with hot hide glue. The secondary wood is poplar for runners and the drawers, although the case back is resawn pine. The finish is shellac, with French polishing, using primarily rottenstone and then a coat of tinted paste wax avoiding the lighter colored bindings and satinwood.