Don't think the mauve was "original" just early. Leave it....it's fine....just don't eat paint chips nor sand it and breather the dust. Contact with lead paint isn't going to kill you....children eating paint chips may cause intellectual problems. People my age and younger grew up with lead paint on our cribs and lead painted toys in white cottages painted with lead paint and ate food from farms with red barns painted with red lead paint.

I would not be too blasé about lead paint. I think you are on the right track about encapsulating the paint. Because it is a family piece, I understand it is a treasure, but I wouldn't worry about it losing value if you refinish it. As Linda C. said, sanding and stripping could be problematic, so be sure to have a good respirator (not just a mask) on if/when you do that. Enjoy using it! The story of its discovery was fun to read!

This is from the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (aacap.org):

"Children with developing bodies are especially vulnerable because their rapidly developing nervous systems are particularly sensitive to the effects of lead.

Almost all children in the United States are exposed to some lead. Common sources include lead paint and lead contained in water and soil. Housing built before 1950 has the greatest risks of containing lead-based paint. Some children may also eat or swallow chips of paint (eating unusual/nonnutritious things is called pica) which increases their risk of exposure to lead.

Exposure to lead can have a wide range of effects on a child's development and behavior. Even when exposed to small amounts of lead levels, children may appear inattentive, hyperactive, and irritable. Children with greater lead levels may also have problems with learning and reading, delayed growth, and hearing loss. At high levels, lead can cause permanent brain damage and even death."

You can use a liquid stripper to avoid raising lead dust. My favorite is Regents E-Z Way, which is relatively non-toxic and does an amazing job.

I think the fact that the outside paint tested positive for lead may indicate it is not original.

The paint in the 1800's did have an oil paint, but it was used mainly for exteriors as it would hold up better in bad weather. Inside paint was typically water based. From the look of the scratches on the front doors, look like the paint went right over the pine.

The original hardware is gone. Do the hinges have paint on them? Also, notice the smear on the backside.

FWIW, lead is in our environment not only from paint, but from leaded gasoline, which before it was banned, contaminated a great deal of soil and water.

Might be a good idea to look up best practices for safely dealing with old lead paint. My inclination would be to cover it up with something that would seal it in, rather than deal with removal and disposal.

Many thanks to all who have taken the time to reply. I have since cleaned off more of the dirt. I had thought the scratches on the front were down to wood but now believe it is paint. I tested the bit of mauve on the back and it was negative for lead, so it must have been the paint under it that has lead. Agree with all that it is not original. Wish my grandma was still with us to tell the tale of this cupboard. We just really have no idea when or how it got up there. I’ve added a photo of an item found with it - again no one had ever seen this.

Our children are well beyond lead eating age (18-21) and not home much but we also have pets and I’d like to use it for storing canned goods so I can’t see leaving as is but still have not decided a path - encapsulate or refinish. My husband likes the color but clear encapsulant is not easy to find.

Storing pet food in a cupboard is not harmful....you don't "ingest lead" by brushin up against paint. Those car siding cupboards date between roughly 1900 and 1920. have one in my basement with a million coats of paint. My father in law used it as his liquor cupboard during Prohibition. Seriously don';t freak over paint on a cupboard,e specially if it's covered with other paint.

And I wonder why my font has spontaneously changed.

My godson was diagnosed with lead paint poisoning when he was about 5 or 6. The lead was found in the dirt around the foundation. The house was built in the early 1900's, so years of scraping and sanding paint all fell to the ground. He also ate dirt..I believe the condition is referred to as PICA. He is a very successful young man, but the lead poisoning caused a myriad of learning disabilities and school was a heartache for him. 1978 began the ban on lead based products, but any house built before then one could assume the paint used was lead based.

Then, of course, there was lead based crystal. Yikes...all those martinis served...

Spray it with a satin polyurethane. Clear satin, not clear gloss. It will change the look, but probably the easiest thing to do.

How about that hook and eye latch on the inside of the cabinet? Is there actually an eye in which the hook can anchor? Wherever the cabinet was used, that door might have tended to fall open and needed the inside latch to secure it. I'm guessing someone stuck it in the attic because they were so frustrated with it and got something better..."Get that thing outta here!"

I'd wash it, paint it; put it in my basement for storage of those canned goods or tools.

Very cool piece. Even cooler that someone in your family probably made it.

FWIW, I have an old handmade storage cabinet in my garage - made by my great-uncle in the late 50s/early 60s, I think, that has a hook/eye on the inside to keep the doors shut when closed, otherwise both doors would swing open, even when latched.

My storage cabinets at work have vertical barrel slide bolts on the inside, for the same reason.

Interesting that those cabinet doors don't meet in the middle tho...

How can you possibly use a hook-eye latch that is on the inside? You close the doors then use the latch from the inside? Are you locking yourself inside it?

It only holds one of the doors shut - note it's on one side only. You just reach inside to latch/unlatch.

Just an aside on this type of cabinet… originally they were installed outdoors to be used as a “cooler”…the style is classified as “primitive” … and was originally found in homes that had no electricity… the paint color on this may have been a “redwood” color… that was commonly used on the exteriors of these old country homes