Recipe for Mahogany Varnish, [June 1805?]
Recipe for Mahogany Varnish
[June 1805?]
A Varnish for mahogany furniture. from Gilbert Stuart
| boiled linseed oil |  |
in equal parts |
| spirits of turpentine | ||
| add ⅙ part of wax. | ||
warm the whole in a gentle heat, to about the consistence of butter in hot weather.
rub it on the furniture with a woollen cloth.
it cannot be sat in the same day.
requires renewing, perhaps once a quarter.
MS (DLC); undated; entirely in TJ’s hand, including endorsement: “Recipe. Varnish for furniture.”
In 1803, Gilbert Stuart set up a portrait studio in Washington. TJ invited the artist to dinner on a few occasions and sat for Stuart in 1805. The artist moved his studio to Boston in July 1805 (Carrie Rebora Barratt and Ellen G. Miles, Gilbert Stuart [New Haven, 2004], 239, 242, 285; Vol. 45:714, 720; Appendix II).