A white scar of claw marks ran down the dark varnish.

"The major color is a dark varnish black which is interrupted by several yellow crossways bars on the back."

But Ms. Cooper, who believes the Chandos portrait a "fairly likely" image of Shakespeare, said Friswell may have been deceived by the dark yellow varnish.

On either side of this, the wood was stained with a dark varnish.

He also switched to using a darker, richer varnish, as opposed to a yellower varnish similar to that used by Amati.

The Phoenix Suns started an unofficial league tradition of a mostly exposed hardwood floor, with a darker varnish on the outside of the three-point area.

His work is characterized by beautiful modelling, good wood and very dark brown varnish; the tone is strong and rich.

His hands are large and hirsute; they might belong to a construction worker, were it not for the fact that his nails are manicured in a dark varnish.

This picture was mostly dark varnish.

However, some Native American tribes created petroglyphs by scraping or chipping away the dark varnish to expose the lighter rock beneath.