In refinishing a mahogony bedroom set - what black or really dark blackish stain color would anyone recommend and also what for a dull finish? (I didn't ask the refinishers what they were using a varnish, shellac, urethane - should I tell them I prefer one over the other? Can I provide what is best? )

The refinishers have a color called Java they want to use but on a piece they had done I thought it had a slight purple look. I think the Java was on cherry bu twas on pretty heavy so I don't think the cherry was causing the slight purple cast. I'd like to avoid the slight purple tone and have a real black.

2nd - if anyone thinks the black would be a mistake please chime in. I'm not into contemporary and think black furniture sort of takes me there.

I'm having trouble imagining what it will look like and am going with it just to get something different than the current red which I've been looking at forever. There is part of me that thinks maybe I should give the dark walnut a chance and live with a little red since a duller finish will also give it a new look.

Backstory:

I my thread Refinishing Old Mahogony furniture I got the message that it would be very hard to kill the red. But before I made my final decision on whether to just leave as is and maybe sell I decided to talk to a second refinisher to see what they thought might look good/better, maybe something I liked.

Well, my decision probably would have been to not refinish but I didn't really get to make that decision because while I was talking to the guy, (who really didn't seem to know much), his wife had carted the nightstand off to the back and sand away a big corner! So.,... decision made to refinish.

They tested a dark walnut but it still looked pretty red. So I said how about a black stain? They had something called "Java" which is a coffee. They had a couple of other pieces they had done in the Java and I thought it had a slight purple look which I also disliked, I'd like a true black.

Here is a link that might be useful: dresser