Thanks for the info. LindaC - the metal towel hanger on the washstand is not original. I see holes where a wooden dowel once was but it broke off. Sorry I didn't mention that. I was going to drill those out and refit it with a new wooden dowel stained to match. For the washstand I'll take more pics of the casters. I'm guessing 2 may be original, 1 may be a replacement (it looks different). I didn't know that the caster material was a date indicator too - thanks for the info on that! I did pick up a 4th caster at a salvage store so it balances a little better, but it is always falling off - poor thing! Also there appears to be a metal fitting on the bottom of the legs surrounding the hole for the caster. That's how I was able to guess that the dresser had casters too. I'll take a pic of that too. I'm guessing that the key hole plates are original. There are no other nail holes on the piece by the key holes. I agree that structurally the dressers are in very good shape for their age. That maple is so solid! No veneers here! The bottoms of a couple of the drawers are a little cracked but I can work around that by making a pretty drawer liner that is on the thick side. I'll look into repro backplates but right now I want to get them finished off before it gets too cold to work on them outside - right now the weather is amazing! I'll post more pics later today and will also take pics of the mirror. I appreciate all the info! I adore old furniture and enjoy learning about these things. The history this piece has experienced! Its fun to think about. Thanks!

Okay so it's been awhile, but we finally tackled our dresser that I first asked about last year. We couldn't salvage the top due to the water damage so we made a new top out of salvaged barn board. The same deal with the "skin's" on each side. They came off, but we really liked how it looked underneath so we kept it plain. Sanded the entire thing then added a coat of polyurethane. After that, I had planned on staining it a walnut colour, but the colour that came up was so nice (and so far off the original green-ish colour), that I left it at that. It only had 3 wood knobs left, which we replaced with some nice glass ones. Since it's not really original anymore anyhow, we thought they added some pizazz to it esp since the colour of the glass matches the tone of the wood. We love it! It was nice to save from being thrown out and giving it a new life. :) And, it's still nicer and cheaper than most of the new crap in stores today! Once again, I'll give the link so there are a few pics. Enjoy! On to the next piece...I see why people get addicted to rehab lol https://picasaweb.google.com/schmenn/1920sDresserRehab?authuser=0amp;authkey=Gv1sRgCOi5y6DakqCXLg&feat=directlink Jenn

The drawer joins are very time-limited - also called the "Knapp joint" for the inventor of the machine that made them. I've seen it variously dated as 1870-1910 to as tight a range as 1880-1900 ... the machines may have been hard to maintain or had some technical reason (perhaps needing thick drawer fronts and using too much wood?) for falling out of use so quickly. I think they took an existing design for an Eastlake influenced piece and tarted it up with a panel in the new Aesthetic style. There are a lot of style hybrids because a manufacturer wouldn't want to abandon the old product line completely if they could just tack on something new.

Do not paint this chair until you find out what you have. The styling is very nice. The vertical part of the back is constructed of compound curved surfaces. However, I would classify its construction as "delicate" since the legs are not braced, particularly the front ones. These can not withstand sideways forces very well.