We all admire period furniture and most of us wish of having one at our homes.Unfortunately they are difficult ot come by although reproductions are available. It is not only the design that is eye catching, but it is the finish that brings out the beauty of the design. Please be aware that most of those pieces were finished with shellac. 
Shellac in those days was available in semi-raw form called Seedlac. De-waxed varieties that are available and used now a days was unknown. The best that the furniture maker could do was decant the seedlac to get rid of the wax. The painstaking work that was put into finishing the piece was well worth its price. After all it is the finish that is the final say in the quality of the furniture!
Shellac was widely used till the late 60's till Nitro Cellulose lacquer made its appearance. Nitro Cellulose was easy to apply, was hard and durable and very soon became the finish of choice.
Unfortunately it did not produce the royal finish that shellac did. Shellac is still widely used by the few seasoned cabinet makers that exsist today.
There are many myths about shellac that grew into prominence after the appearance of nitro cellulose. The major one being that it is not waterproof. It is true that it is not, but it is quite water resistant. Shellac can easily withstand water for about 6 hours. If not wiped, a faint white stain is the result, that fades away as it dries. However repairing shellac is the easiest ! As a matter of fact it is far easier to repair shellac than lacquer. The other myths are; it cracks over time, it fades and turns yellow etc. Most of these are untrue. Usually cracking takes place since the cabinet maker did not coat the inside of the furniture due to time and money. Since the outer surface of the furniture is sealed with shellac and the inside is bare, uneven surface expansion and contraction due to temperature cause the shellac to crack. 

Why use shellac?
Shellac is 100% natural. It is produced by bugs that live in Northeastern India. Shellac is also harvested in Thailand and Sri Lanka. Shellac is 100% non toxic and is FDA approved. Therefore it is widely used in the cosmetic, drug and food industry. It is the only finish that should be used on children's furniture due to its non toxicity! 
Ever tried applying a coat of paint on a piece of pine? Do you recall how it becomes blotchy because some areas of the pine absorb more paint than others? Well, next time apply a coat of shellac before painting. You will be surprised with the results. Shellac is a wonderful sealer. Apply it on every part of the furniture. It will protect it from temperature changes and will last for many years. The benefits of shellac are endless. You only have to try it to believe it.
We at Shellacfinishes want to bring this age old finish back to its glorious past.

Watch the video on my India trip if you want to learn the origins and manufacture of shellac.

As a user of shellac for many years, I am always fighting an uphill task of convincing people that shellac stands up very well to moisture. Unfortunately, folks have read about the utter failure of shellac in high moisture environments in magazines for so long, that it has become 'gospel'. I have tried to bust this myth in my video "French Polish Like a Pro", but it is simply gratifying when I heard this from my customer Jacek from Poland. He applied shellac to the brass lettering on the tombstone to the left. The lettering on the right are not treated with shellac. And here are his comments:

June 2010: "In June I brushed brass letters on tombstone with shellac and they are shiny after many rainy days. Amazing."

October 2010: "They are still shiny! Wow!

December 2010: " So we have December and temperatures around 32F, rain all the time or snow - brass letters (45 degrees to the ground) are still very shiny! I'm waiting what will happen when temperature will go down to 15-20F. I used one thick layer of shellac (brush)."