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Antiques & Collectibles

Any guesses on how old this sideboard might be?

13 years ago

My aunt purchased it in an antique shop about 20 years ago. She just recently gave it to me. I can't find any markings of any kind on it.

I know this photo is terrible (the lighting is bad, I used my phone camera and the angle is weird)... I'll try to post a better photo soon.

http://i1089.photobucket.com/albums/i358/Miko5872/Furniture/sideboard1.jpg

Thanks!

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Comments (15)

Ideefixe
13 years ago
I'd say 1920-30s. Sort of Mission-esque, sort of Deco.

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:1374925}}
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chibimimi
13 years ago
It's hard to tell by the photo, but it might be English oak from the '30s or '40s, or even later. Can you get us a close-up of the carved motif on the doors, if that's what it is?
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Except for the projections on the lid, yours is much like my mother's hope chest. She was born in 1912, and was given the chest as soon as she was old enough to start making the embroidery, drawn thread work, etc., that was supposed to fill it in preparation for her wedding. (With 5 girls in the house, those chests must have taken up a lot of floor space! ). She remembered receiving it, so that would be after 1918, at a minimum, I guess, more likely by 1922. I'm guessing WW I was not a period of much furniture manufacture, but that is a speculation on my part, which would make me think more like the early 1920's. This was probably bought for your great aunt before she was married, too. Her chest (which I own now) is constructed of cedar, veneered with walnut. I just stuck my head under it (as far as I could); mine is a different manufacturer than yours, The Continental Desk Company. There was more, but it was facing the wrong way, and I couldn't read it. No date that I could see. The medallion design on the front is resin or plastic (I forget the name of what they were using back then for a lot of applied decoration), but the other edge carving and details are real wood.
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This is a most riveting subject, and a most interesting thread. I think there is a little bit of truth in many of the posts so far and I've changed my mind on this one at least five times. The actual print inside the frame gave me the impression of a photograph because of the fine white line like old photos get when they are damaged. That being said, one can take a photo of a drawing and parts of this picture are without a doubt hand rendered including the background and that could very well be a studio backdrop. My impression at this point is that this is likely a studio portrait and that it is in essence a composite with the facial features being the true rendering off a negative and the rest a lot of touch up and very poorly executed outright embellishment. If you'd like to see an example of a turn of the century hand painted studio backdrop, I can show you a large portrait of my great-grandfather and his brother sitting in a real chair, but with a very fake staircase behind them. LOL It was not an unusual practise, clear on up to the forties and fifties for some photographers to take portraits in black and white and hand tint and retouch them in the dark room. It wasn't because of the cameras not being able to, but the studios having the equipment to develop them. So seeing 'sketch marks' doesn't prove anything but the skill of the craftsman who took and developed the portrait because you're just as likely to see the editing on a real photograph as not. I have a portrait of my g'grandmother I'm inserting here because judging by her age it would have been taken about 1918-20. It has been hand tinted, and if you look at her blouse, it has obviously been hand retouched for detail and the bottom darkened out to extend the photo as much as possible to the paper to fill it. I think this is what happened to the boy's dress......it was probably enhanced by hand and the chair by imagination and lack of artistic ability. Even poor people scrounged up the money for portraits in the old days, God knows my ancestors weren't rich people and we have them to pass along. But they certainly were special enough not to be done on a whim. One portrait my g'parents had taken in the twenties was of my little aunt who was expected to die at birth, but lived until two years. So, they coughed up the money, even with ten kids, to have a portrait taken of her. I'm no expert and I'm not pretending to be but before I'd blow this one off as a fake, I'd have it checked out. Regardless of how it pans out, and even if it turns out to be a Cracker Barrel nostalgia shot..........it's a Jim Dandy and worth hanging on a wall just to see the mug on that kid.
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lindac
13 years ago
I think it's 40's or 50's....sure wouldn't say anything like English oak, very possibly cherry, maple or walnut.
Would live to see details like drawer dove tailing, the back, close up of the doors and what's inside those doors.
Nice piece....hope you love it!
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oldstuff4me
Original Author
13 years ago
I do love it!!!

I will take some photos using a proper camera with better lighting when I get home tonight.

Thanks everyone!
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oldstuff4me
Original Author
13 years ago
http://i1089.photobucket.com/albums/i358/Miko5872/Furniture/IMG_2865.jpg

http://i1089.photobucket.com/albums/i358/Miko5872/Furniture/IMG_2867.jpg

http://i1089.photobucket.com/albums/i358/Miko5872/Furniture/IMG_2866.jpg
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lindac
13 years ago
Very nice!! Quarter sawn oak....1910-ish...looks like a very fine piece....even the sides of the drawers are oak. Looks like of the Roycroft/ Limbert era.
I'll bet it has been refinished once....hence the lighter color.
Great piece!
Linda c
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oldstuff4me
Original Author
13 years ago
You're right... it's definitely been refinished. The back of it is much darker (I'm assuming whoever refinished it, was too lazy to worry about doing the back as well)

Thanks very much for taking the time to weigh in on this piece for me. Regardless of it's age, I adore it... it just makes it that much sweeter that it's quite possibly a true antique.
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chibimimi
13 years ago
I still think English or European with the style of that carving. And definitely oak. And I still think '30s at the earliest. It's a nice piece with a lot of character.
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calliope
13 years ago
I tend to agree with Chibimimi. First off, look at the size. Early century production piece buffets were massive. This one looks to be maybe four feet? This is a later piece of furniture designed to fit smaller rooms.

It may very well have been refinished, but backs of these pieces are not finished and can look darker then finished parts since unfinished wood does darken with age.

The metal backplate to the lock looks quite thin and stamped. Are these really locks, or put there for that effect? When you open the doors, is there shelving?

Would you mind giving the dimensions of the piece?
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lindac
13 years ago
There was a lot of "dainty" furniture in the 10 years either side of 1900...for example the Larkin stuff.
And 1890 to 1910 was also prime time for Art Nouveau movement which was mostly light and airy and not necessarily massive at all.
As for unfinished wood darkening with age....then I wonder why the inside of my 150 year old chest is not dark nor the inside of the 200 year old table drawer is so light.
The old varnishes and shellac will darken with age.

Here is a link that might be useful: limbert sideboard
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calliope
13 years ago
Not formal dining room furniture there wasn't where buffets and sideboards were concerned, or it wasn't at all typical of that era. You might find a smaller 'server' buffet but this one seems to be deeper than most I've seen listings for. That's why I'm interested in dimension. You might find daintiness in odd pieces, washstands, commodes and there I agree. That's one reason I asked what it looked like inside the doors.

Yes, I'm quite aware old finishes can darken with age, and I'm not arguing that this piece hasn't been refinished. It likely has. Yes again, inside chests and drawers the wood does not darken like it does on the backs because it isn't subject to dust and pollutants so common in the days of manufactured house gas, coal and wood burning furnaces and fireplaces. I have yet to see a very light back to any piece of old furniture and I have seen plenty. They get cruddy even in the most elegant homes.

This is a nice little piece but it's no Limbert or Roycroft. The inexpensive metal details sort of suggest it's more common. It's little more than stamped tin. I'd also be curious to know if a caster was ever mounted under the legs. If there wasn't, I'd suspect it was made when they started to be phased out in furniture.

That being said, it's a most pleasant piece and I certainly wouldn't mind having it sitting in my house.
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User
13 years ago
Raising hand excitedly! Definitely English from 1900-1930s. It was made for the smaller apartments and semi-detached (row housing) houses that were popular for their Yuppies. :) Nice pieces because they fit in so many decorating styles.

Those 1/2 round handles and the restrained use of ornamentation are characteristic of that furniture.

It's not full-blown Art Nouveau, nor Arts and Crafts ... a timid blend for the person who wanted to be trendy but didn't have the money or the guts to go with the real thing. But a nice piece to have
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oldstuff4me
Original Author
13 years ago
The dimensions are...

47" wide
18" deep
38" tall
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formerlyflorantha
13 years ago
Any chance it's Scandinavian?
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StevenDouglas
13 years ago
I would have to agree. 1920s-1930s.

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