I've a "piece of furniture" belonging to someone else, which I'm supposed to be keeping until they buy a larger house. It's described as a "court dresser", and looks vaguely similar to this:
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a Small Boy has scratched it with something. The scratches haven't scored the timber, but have marred the somewhat matt finish. The thing seems to be made of pale wood, with a dark stain or varnish on top. The varnish is prone to flake, and it's flaked off where the scratches are. I don't think it's shellac. Neither does it appear to be polyurethane. This piece of furniture may have been made between the '50s and '70s, as fas as my limited knowledge of things like this goes.
What might this varnish be? How to repair it?