Frankly, I am stunned at the quality of the splice and veneers.
What is really cool about cues from around the turn of the last century is that the joinery was essentially hand-made in many cases. I can't find pix on short look, but there are plenty showing BBC cue factories with guys sawing splices with a handsaw!. They were advertised (again with pix) as hand-planed. IOW like snooker cues are today, not lathe turned.
I'm only a hobby cue maker, but a pro woodwhacker with exposure to millwork and furniture from mid 1700's forward: I have a real problem with the received perception of cue finishes. I really doubt most were using anything but shellac before about 1925. That approximate date is when nitro lacquer finishes (which did sort of exist before as more or less home-made sealers for brass metal) became commercial finishes for automobiles, and then took the furniture business by storm.
Given the trades in small scale shops where wood was finished, I have a strong suspicion that shellac remained the dominant finish for small items right up until just after ww2. 50's on, acrylic was invented (doesn't yellow, but otherwise not as good as nitro on wood) so any guess as to finish becomes a bit more muddled.
Before ww2, I'd bet on shellac for most if they were not factory made. Factories were about the only places that could afford the capital for compressors and spray equipment, and the waste of product, and dedicated finishing space for lacquer, which is really not superior to shellac anyway.
BTW, by shellac, i mean fresh made from de-waxed flake, not the stuff in a can with an inch of wax in the bottom before it's stirred. OTOH, shellac before ww2 in commercial settings may or may not have been de-waxed. Orange was a common grade, and that is seldom dewaxed. (though individual users can do so by settling and decanting a few times.) Seedlac was used for some commercial furniture because it gives a dark stain and was dirt cheap. Probably not used for cues.
smt
