looks like inlaid wood to me? It's so pretty!

I'd love to own it!
By some miracle, do you live in SE Michigan?

thanks ezbake (love that name!)
janice5 I'm not in SE MI but suburban Chicago - not TOO far!!! Feel like taking a drive?

Man, I'm in suburban Chicago! If only I had a place for that-- it is gorgeous!!!

Antique Armoire--$295

This beautiful vintage armoire is only for sale because I no longer have room in my home for it. It is 46" wide by 77" tall and is 16" deep, with pretty inlay banding and a nice beveled mirror. It has hooks on the inside as you can see from my photos and one nice drawer the width of the piece. I believe it to be mahogany from the 1920's but don't know for sure. I bought it years ago and have enjoyed it very much.
Give me a call at 1-800-Ima-babe or email me at the craigslist email address and come see. I'm located in suburban Chicago.

See photos

(note from Red: For the purposes of craigslist, it doesn't hurt a bit to say 'antique' even if the piece is not over 100 years old. Most people are not going to nit-pick in that venue. Also, a real collector or afficianado will know what the wood is and will know a bit about the inlay. Most of us who just like antique or vintage stuff will mostly care about the dimensions and the good photos. So don't worry too much about specifics. Your pix are good, your piece is darling, and I'm sure you can troll Chicago CL to determine a decent price that won't be a giveaway but will get it gone.)

Red you crack me up but are ever the voice of experience and wisdom - especially when it comes to buying and selling on CL! Thanks

anele are you SURE you can't find a space for it? ;-)

I want it Deb! It's beautiful. I don't know how you can give it up. Wish I were closer. Hmmmm....I wonder if I could talk my hubby into a Cubbie's Game? Don't I wish! Good Luck selling it. I know things have been moving very slow here because of gas prices. There was even talk on National news on Thursday, I think, about how much posting on Craigslist has gone up with the price of gas.

I wish I wish!!!! I just asked DH-- could he think of a place . . .he said no, too.

So pretty!

And side note . . .ITA with Red, no one will nitpick the antique thing. There is a guy on CL (I think he's in Skokie) who lists just about everything as an antique . . .and most of his stuff is from the 70s.

As far as I'm concerned, it's an antique from the 20s!

Oh you are making me want to re-think this sale! I do love this piece and I know at some point down the road in a different house I will probably be kicking myself. Wish I could find a place to use it now - can't even store it - too large to store in the basement and to valuable to store in the attic :-(

lol @ red...1-800-Ima-babe

Well, Parma..........Have you SEEN her??!!

Red

OMG I am in love with that. How far of a drive from the eastern shore of Canada?? ;O) You will have no trouble selling this listed as an antique.

Touche to Red, hehehe, and here's me wondering why they don't have the little stress marks on my keyboard so I could insert over the e.

That is a gorgeous peice. Me likey! What's even more amazing is the original finish. Rachel Ashwell did not get ahold of it and paint it white or pink and then sand down the edges for a charming-european-beach-cottage-look, nor did Brocade or Anthropologie get their modern baroque hands on it to paint it intense orange so that the contemporary-color-throws-the-clean-vintage-lines-into-high-relief. (Can you tell I have been looking through all my catalogues and design books today?)

I wish you had room for it...I wish I had room for it! At any rate, I am very happy for the future owners who are going to acquire such a lovely furniture piece.

Joanna

FWIW, satinwood is a particular species of tropical hardwood, not a style of inlay or marquetry (the technical term for the floral and figural inlays). It is hard to say whether the inlay is satinwood or not, it could be any light-colored wood. The bit with the vertical lines at the very top is just another style of inlay that echoes the band just below the floral arch. It could be ebony or it could simply be another, cheaper wood that has been dyed.

My gut wants to say it's a couple of decades earlier than 1920s though - is there a date on it somewhere? - and perhaps English-made. A great deal of inlaid mahogany furniture was cranked out of English factories around the turn of the 19th-20th centuries, but a lot more has been brought over since. Nowadays dealers go over and ship back container-loads of English vintage/antique furniture for sale here in the US.

It is a lovely armoire even with its condition issues and if you must sell it I'd consider consigning it with an antique dealer or auction house rather than putting it on Craigslist. Antique auctions are not just for the $50,000 items - for instance the famous Skinner auction house in Boston holds a monthly auction of "lesser" antiques/vintage items for pretty much every price point. I did a tiny bit of Googling and found that Susanin's auction house in Chicago has a "Discovery Day" every Friday morning where you can bring your photos of the piece and get more information about it, including an estimated value. Take as many close-up detail photos as you can, including photos of the back and drawer construction but especially of the inlays and "brasses" (hardware). There are also a slew of eBay consignment dealers in Chicago I don't think it's a particularly high-value item but I don't think you'll get its best price on CL, not to mention CL is a major hassle, and it would get it out of your house in pretty short order.

It looks to me like it has satinwood (that smooth, golden wood with little grain), rosewood (that more stripey wood in the cornice) and ebony (the black obviously ;) ) which are common woods for marquetry inlay. It can date anywhere from 1900 to the 1940's from what I've seen. I have a piece with lots of inlay like that but it dates a bit earlier, 1910 I think.

1920 is probably a good guess. I bought my piece from the Harp Gallery, which is in Wisconsin. I'm not sure how far they are from you but maybe you could email them and see if they are interested in purchasing it. They sell a lot of pieces similar to that on their website and I think you could get more than $295 for it! They would probably sell it for anywhere from 4-8 times that after spiffing it up a bit. They get good money for their pieces but only buy really nice pieces. I'm not sure how they go about all that but I thought I'd suggest it - although I'd have a REALLY hard time letting it go myself.

I bought a similar piece off of CL last year for $300. It is a beauty and serves as our coat closet in our 1908 house. Ours has been (very nicely) refinished though, so its value should be less than your piece. I think that I would start at $500. I've seen armoires in antique stores in a similar condition priced about $1200. Of course if you put it in a store, generally you can't expect to get more than 50% of the sale price.

Deb, that is SUCH a pretty piece, I hate to see you let it go. Don't give it away for too little either, it's gorgeous! I was going to say it looks English to me too, but I'm def. not an expert. What about in a bedroom?? Any room there?

Red you are too sweet!

And you all are making me feel so guilty!

mari and lisa thank you for all that information. I had no idea about the Discovery Day - how fun would that be? (except for the part about driving into and parking in the city which I totally hate, of course!) Harp Galleries looks like a very nice place - I have a friend in Neenah so it might make a fun road trip.

I just contacted a local CL seller who has some nice pieces on his website - sent him a bunch of pics. He's passing on it but says I should have no trouble getting $500 on CL.

Rho I literally walked room to room looking to see if there's a junky piece I can get rid of and keep this one. Problem is, as nice looking as it is, it's not the most functional unless you need hanging space. I could get rid of my son's dresser but he needs drawers - this would never work for him.

I just have to focus on the reality - it's a nice piece but it's not a family heirloom or particularly special. It can be replaced down the road if our furniture needs change. Right?

Susanin's is easy to get to and there's decent parking - been there many times. Dan Ryan to Eisenhower. Eisenhower east to Clinton, south to 900 S. You're there!

It's a great piece and it's super that the insides are intact.

uh, patser....one little problem.....I'm north 35 miles. My route in is Edens to Kennedy and until they finish that construction, I probably won't head into the city. I figure about, oh, 2 years! I could take the train, though......

That is such a beautiful piece, I'm drooling. It would make any room special. It's a deal at $500. I hope no one paints it.

dlm, You've got a point. I wouldn't want to see you and the armoire on the train, though! That would be a sight!

What a gorgeous piece! Look at the craftsmanship in it. At first I thought that was dentil moulding across the top, but it's actually inlaid? I'm sorry you have to part with it, Dlm, and I hope you get a really good price for it.

Done. It's listed. Now I wait. :~(

I'm giving it a week. If it's still here I'm asking all of you to help me find a way to use it.

It's so lovely, it'll go fast (I wish it were to me!).

When I'm sad to part with something, I remember FlyLady's wise words . . .bless someone else!

patser, she wouldn't even need to take the armoire on the train to go to Discovery Day! Just a good big stack of pictures, dimensions, etc.