I think that may be a Drexel cabinet. I'd buy it in a heartbeat, but couldn't paint it. I love Chinoiserie. You might find that the design is raised.

I say if you can't find what you need and this works and is in the price range.....proceed. I hesitate to paint things too, but will if I need it to work.

Yep, it's advertised as Drexel and it probably is bumpy. Spouses are so annoying sometimes!

No..I'm not a huge fan of Chinoiserie but I wouldn't paint it. Maybe you can buy it-and paint just the inside? Will give it some ..I don't know..zest? Easier to live with?

Looks like a quality thing, really. I'd either leave it for somebody who likes it as it is-or try to make it work without changing in in a major way. But then, my husband kinda likes Chinoiserie..so easy for me to say..

I would really have a hard time painting the older pieces of Drexel, even if I had no plans to ever pass it on to be concerned about lowering the value. Covering up that quality original finish would make a basket case of me ;-) Unless it was damaged, then maybe....

Thanks all. I just don't know. I'm not a furniture painter by nature and even though it's just a factory paint job and not a piece of art or anything, I WOULD feel bad about it. I love all the squiggles and curlicues. (I wouldn't touch the gold interior though. It's just too good.) I suspect the spouse is uncomfortable with this style because it so often has crude caricatures of Asians on it. I wonder if could just hit the people with a Sharpie. :P

Oh well. Guess I'll pass. Napa CL, if you're interested. Been there forever!

Gosh Fori, that is a lovely piece. Why don't you make an offer? Even if it isn't exactly your style you may find that once it's in place you will love it!

I could live with the style just fine (perhaps depending on if the little people are offensive or not). It's the spouse, who so rarely has a strong opinion on things like this. *sigh*

It's quite inexpensive, assuming it's in decent condition. Someone should get it! =D

I have mid 18th century Chinese porcelain on which the people look like something out of a cartoon, and this is the real thing. I haven't seen your people close up and so can't say, but it's a pity that you can't have this very nice piece which fits your criteria in every other way, because of that little hang-up of your husband's. In the right setting this could be an impressive piece of furniture, and I'm assuming the price is right. Since you've been looking forever that should be another inducement, but then I'm someone who hates shopping for anything.

Maybe your DH wouldn't mind this particular piece in person? It seems worth dragging him out to look at it. Once he's put in that effort, he might be less inclined to say no.

Because no, you really shouldn't paint it. Which is unfair but there you go.

It's a very nice looking piece. You should go for it! I have bought a few vintage Asian things on CL, they are not in vogue right now so they can be had cheap. Don't paint it though as this style will have its day again and go for thousands if it's quality made.

I used to work at a store that sold Drexel, that would have been a really expensive cabinet at the time.

I'm not a very good painter anyway.

Anyone know where I can find one that doesn't need painting? I AM willing to spend modern dollars on the right thing. :)

So, I say get it and slipcover the doors and drawers. Really isn't that difficult to do and won't ruin the piece. Get med to heavy wt fabric, use velcro on the back (I staple the velcro to the fabric).

Check out antique stores... I see cool looking hutches all the time at antique stores. Restoration hardware has some big hutches, but I wasn't impressed with their stuff up close when I visited their outlet store. C&B might have one too.

Or, take off doors and store. Put bins in there. All that trim and gold interior is way cool.

Georgia, you just blew my mind. Slipcovered case goods? If nothing else, I have a dog of an aquarium stand that is getting that treatment!

I will have to see WHAT exactly the spouse doesn't like. Maybe it's just the massive black and goldness and the details aren't an issue at all.

I've been checking antique stores--like this cabinet, all china hutches are cheap because nobody wants them. (Similarly, the furniture manufacturers seem to have lost interest in making them.) Few are large enough to fill the space I want filled though. Restoration Hardware stuff is just too darn distressed--I might have to wait until the reclaimed/pretrashed furniture trend is over before I buy new again.

Thanks all--maybe I'll see if it's still available this weekend. A little glamor never hurts, right?

Fori, this is just meant to be inspiration as this piece is nothing like your cabinet. But, if the price is right and you took off the doors and stored them there is endless things you could do. I just used cheap IKEA stuff to transform this ole TV cabinet into perfect storage in my art room. You could also use painted bins or even the IKEA stuff inserted might be cool if sprayed gold. Or gold leaf the front of bins, that's an easy project.

i do think it's pretty as is though.

Hmmmm, I think my DH would agree to anything if I asked him week after week to accompany me on furniture finding jaunts or if I showed him a piece that was five figures and told him in would be perfect for my need but that the cheaper one was even more perfect.

Fori, I found the ad, and I think there are very few people on it. I expanded the best photo of the base, and I could only see what I think is a woman holding a parasol, on the left open door. There may be more people shown; why not ask the seller to take close-ups for you, if it's a distance from your house? I can't imagine Drexel putting "crude caricatures of Asians on it." Their furniture is very good quality. I see the seller may even be able to help with delivery!

I agree with Holly-Kay.

I think you neeeeed it.

Ahhhh you're enablers! :)

It's a bit of a drive. But it's so cheap...

I read this last night thought no that would be wrong, for some reason...now after thought NO ONE seems to WANT it as is so why the heck not?!! I would feel badly if a treasure that people would DIE TO HAVE were "ruined", but it seems it is not, so MAKE IT WORK FOR YOU!

I would have no problem painting it to be what I want. One has to take risks and it's not a six figure antique. Go for it.

The whole point of that cabinet is the elaborate decorations. Seems like a waste to paint it when there are other options. Rather than buy that, I would seek out a carpenter/cabinetmaker, and have him (or her) build me some custom bookcases that are just what I want, exactly. Or perhaps get something unfinished and have a carpenter finish them with the kind of doors and trim I wanted.

Fori, I've been browsing CL for months just waiting for a china cabinet with the right look that I can paint. If it has that look that you like and doesn't have raised areas in the art, then go for it. Unless, of course, you find out its worth way more than you pay for it. Then I say, sell it and make a profit! :-)

You don't paint over a fine breakfront like this, and there is nothing offensive in the figures and decor that is handpainted on this cabinet. It is a centuries old tradition, like Willow Ware dishware which are still made and sold today.

The characters are absolutely not comparable to something offensive like black lawn jockeys which are offensive to most.

Don't paint that lovely cabinet. Ikea make Billy and Besta ranges that you can customise, add doors, open shelving. Can get it delivered.

Beverly, I don't think she should paint it. I think she needs to get it and blindfold her husband. I love it!

I do get the perspective, and having worked with Native Americans who hate having their culture caricatured, to belonging to a minority group myself that is often misrepresented, to me just not liking caricature in general, I can appreciate the sentiment. But the pictures on the doors might not even have people in them, or they could be covered with fabric if you like all the other decorative elements. I'm not a fan of Chinoiserie, but having said that, I have a house full of its cousin, "Japonaise" which is a little kitschy at times but the stuff I have, while a bit trite and cutesy is old and charming in some sense too. Only offensive if you were unsophisticated enough to think that Japanese people dressed like that now, etc. This is stylized art from a certain era which it evokes. My Japanese friend thought mom's things were charming antiques because that is not a style of art popular and ubiquitous in Japan anymore. There's corny stuff overdone for every culture, so you have to decide for yourself whether it is just cute or obnoxious. I have dorky ceramic figurines of a little Dutch boy and girl and they aren't very flattering to the Dutch as a whole, but they were in grandma's house when I was a kid and I indulge them still. But I sure wouldn't buy a lawn jockey and try and dress him up as St. Francis if what I really wanted in my front yard was a statue of St. Francis. Which would be my point about the cabinet. If you like the decorations and think it will look good at your house, buy it and work with it. If you want something plain, look for and buy something of quality that is plain. Drink the good wine!

Every day I check to see if Fori bought that darn cabinet. I can't take suspense.

There's nothing offensive about chinoiserie; it's merely the fascination of Westerners of a certain time period for all things Chinese, which seemed so exotic to them. The Chinese exported tons of porcelain painted in a style they thought would appeal to Europeans and Americans which was very different from what they produced for the Chinese aristocracy, who for a long time were the only ones who could afford porcelain. Many scenes are from old writings which endured for centuries. The popular Willow pattern, of which there are unfortunately mostly bad examples like the two above, is the story of two young lovers who were kept apart by the girl's father, I believe, but were then set free as birds to be together forever. I don't think there's a Chinese person who would find that beautiful piece of furniture offensive; it's the sort of thing they themselves might buy.