This kind of reminds me of what I used to see in some furniture stores in the 1990s, new furniture produced in Southeast Asia as "rustic", "ethnic" furniture. Or sometimes it was vintage,

Show the back and the dovetails on the drawers as wella s the insides fo the drawers.

I don't beileve at all that it is southeast Asian, I think it is a piece used probably in a hardware store. It's obviously been well used and opened many many times with not so clean hands.

I love it!!

Lindac is usually always spot on but I think I'm in the palimpsest camp with this one. I, too, think it is late 90s Asian furniture that flooded the market as "Asian" antiques. But we all are just guessing until we can look at the construction.

I know a modest amount about Asian furniture, and the joint details for the dividers, the pulls, and the base molding around the bottom edge, do not say Asian to me, or even Asian-inspired. That looks American to me, maybe late-19th, early-20th Century.

I love it what ever it is. I got my grandfather's chest of little drawers. Since he was in the dental supply business I figured it was a dental tool cabinet of some sort, I never asked him. He kept it in his little workshop in the basement for his tools. It was in sorry shape but I always fascinated by all the little drawers. I took it home and cleaned a bit, but not too much. It's still one of my favorite things and now my son's. He used it for all his things in childhood and now it's his.

Yours is much nicer than mine.

Try cleaning with lightly with little mineral spirits (do a test spot first) but keep the distressed finish.

It does look old, and until there are more photos detailing the backs and insides showing construction, I'm going to guess it might have been used in a shop, for storing things like seeds, hardware, art supplies or sewing notions, etc...

$50.

Possibly an old library card catalog file? Only reason I say that, is I remember one similar to this in our old hometown library.

Card catalogue would have uniform sections in the drawers, not various sizes...

I agree...I worked for several years in a large public library, which included updating the card catalogs, and those drawers are nowhere near the right proportions to house cards.

Here is a similar one dubbed a 'machinist's chest' out of a hardware store in SF (which is what I first thought of when I saw it). As dirty as the drawer fronts are maybe it held little parts used when fixing machinery or cars or just screws that guys with dirty hands had to run a pick up while they were in the middle of some job on a farm or ?

1930's cabinet

That's the sort of thing i think it is.

It is a 19th century pine apothecary chest and yes, it has value. Depending on the market, guessing around $3,000.00. Google and see what comes up.

Don't think it's for apothecary stuff....the owner said the inside had various sized compartments, and it shows evidence of years of dirty fingers opening and closing the drawers.

I am going for nuts and bolts and screws, hinges cotter pins, washers etc etc.

This popped up on FB marketplace in my town for $200

no dividers in the drawers, tho.

That just looks like a dresser.

Hi, I saw an old post about a fast way to ceruse oak kitchen cabinets. Do you have a picture of any projects that you could share? Leslie

"That just looks like a dresser."

Hmmm, I guess it could be, but with the hardware/handles that look as if they held labels and the larger drawers on top instead of the bottom (like most dressers) it looked more utilitarian to me.

Nevefr saw a dresser with 15 drawers.

Is this what you mean by insets? If so, indeed, your piece is an apothecary chest with value.

https://www.merrillsauction.com/file/1746

It could have been a parts cabinet in a retail store. The drawers could have held nuts, washers, and screws, or nails, or fasteners. However, I am puzzled because I don't see any evidence for attaching identification labels, or any indication labels had been applied.

It could have been used for parts storage in a repair shop.

I do not think it was used as a silverware cabinet.

Pretty sure it's a sewing chest for supplies. My late MIL had one similar.