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Antiques & Collectibles

Can anyone identify this piece or know how i can find out about it

8 years ago

I think it was made somewhere between 1850-1890. My great grandparents bought it used not long after they were married. I cannot find any name, lot number, etc.

Thanks in advance for any help!

Featured Answer

jewelisfabulous

8 years ago

It's a Gentleman's Dresser. You don't often see them intact these days. They usually are long parted out. In our family, we have the chest and the mirror, but the ornate mirror surround and two smaller side cabinets are long gone to who knows where. Candles were often placed on top of the side cabinet to illuminate the user in the mirror. It looks to me that all the hardware is original and, as you can see, the drawers are beautifully made.

Some have only one of the smaller side cabinets placed off to the side. Some also have "Eastlake" style spoon carving on the drawer fronts and top of the mirror surround.

In the case of our pieces, my Grandmother followed the trend of the 1930's and painted that beautiful oak pink followed later on with white. I had it stripped and refinished back to the original "golden oak" in the early 1990's.

If I had to guess, this piece was original offered through the Sears catalog. You may be able to determine if that's true with a little research. Here's a start:

https://www.bing.com/search?q=antique+gentleman%27s+dresser&qs=OS&pq=antique+gentlemen&sc=3-17&sp=1&cvid=B775C880805B44E8BABA4B6B16B777A2&FORM=QBRE

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Comments (8)

lindac92
8 years ago
Well...it's oak and what has been called a hat boxdresser. The drawer pulls appear to have been replaced. What was originally used would have been more like the brass around the key hole.
I have never seen that form before....with the 2 little "out rigger" chests set above the main dresser. But the single "hat box" is quite common.
It dates more closely to 1890 than before, and perhaps to as late as 1915. There would have been no marking nor any sort of ID on it
kathy vells thanked lindac92
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Sigh…. Its size for the space is partly why I didn’t buy it the first time I saw it a month or more ago. I do have a couple of other places I could put it, but I already have pieces I am cleaning up / repairing for those spots. Plus I do need a home for the magazines. If it is not easy to put them away, I know I won’t. If I don’t use this piece there, I will have to bring back the small table I had there before, whose wood does not match. I agree that it does look like it was originally part of a gentleman’s dresser, and was taken off. My piece has a new (ish) floor which you can see inside the door section. Someone went to a lot of trouble, as the addition is done very well, actually set into tongue and groove strips. Plus they added round metal feet of the kind you hammer in. I put felt pads on those immediately so I can slide it out without damaging my hardwood floor. I could add legs to elevate it, but that would be yet another project to add to a long list. I’ll use it where it is for now (sideways) and wait for inspiration to strike as to a possible other location. Finish color is best in that room, though.
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fillmoe
8 years ago
To jewelisfabulous: Thanks for your interesting post. I recently stripped multiple layers of paint off an 1880s mantel. When I discovered a pink layer, I thought, "What the ...." Now I know (maybe).
linnea56 (zone 5b Chicago)
8 years ago
This is a really interesting piece. Anyone have any idea why the 2 small side chests are "floating" above the main chest?
PRO
Sombreuil
8 years ago
I suspect it is a married/made-up piece. No locks on the upper compartments, where, presumably all the most valuable bits and bobs would have been kept.

The hanging compartments' wood is also a different color (if the photo is accurate).

Casey
lindac92
8 years ago
I disagree on it being married....the curley-cues on the top of the side things and the mirror top are too similar. And a google search showed me that those 2 chests above the main surface is not unique to this piece>
As to why no locks on the drawers on the outriggers? That was the "handkerchief drawers".
http://cf.collectorsweekly.com/stories/pHJg2LIY3IzTHN1u4MM.sQ-small.jpg
linnea56 (zone 5b Chicago)
8 years ago
That's interesting. The side cabinets are "floating" in Linda's link as well. I wonder what the rationale was for that? It gives more total surface dresser space...but why would a gentleman need that?
lindac92
8 years ago
Maybe someone thought it looked "cute?"

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