Featured Help identifying interesting wardrobe

Looks like a lovely piece! I love brown furniture!

Leslie

 

Thought I already responded but don't see it. Anyway,

Sorry, I wasn't clear. The hardware should be brass so no rust, just tarnish. (If they are rusted steel that would be a real sign of incorrect hardware). The reason the brass hardware didn't look old (besides the locks that could have been replaced) was because it was cast without any hand tooling. My statement about "lack of wear" was referring to the fact that wood furniture as old as the 1700's shows wear and/or repairs - especially veneered pieces. This didn't show any so didn't look to be authentically antique. Subsequent pictures of the back and interior shows that even more clearly.

 

Thanks for the clarification, what do you think it would be worth?

 

Values are highly location dependent. You're in texas, right, where there are lots of big houses and oil/gas money? I would think it would be easier to sell there than just about anywhere else in the country. But I don't know enough to guess what your market is, sorry.

 

No problem thanks for the help

 

OK, I'm confuzzled on this. The lock is right, as is the lovely veneer and the handles. Yes, it's been mucked about with internally. Are we saying this thing is a frankenstein's monster?

 

That was my take.
There are three possibilities - early 1700's, mid 1800's, and 1900's made to deceive. I don't think 1700's period piece is possible. Could be an 1800's piece made in the earlier style, but after seeing the posts of the inside and back I don't think it is 1800's either.

I think this looks like it was made for export to the US so probably not a lot of these hanging around where you are. Made to deceive - thus aged wood in the back and hand cut drawers and old style hardware to give it an antique presence. They used to have pieces like this at travelling "antique" fairs in hotels and VFW halls - they would put ads in the paper and big signs outside the venue. In the 1990's when antiques were hot here in the US and there wasn't sufficient supply. Lots of oriental rugs, lamps with stained glass (to make you think Tiffany) and other glassware, over-the-top decoration antique-look furniture like this, antique looking paintings. I don't know that is where this came from, but it would have been appropriate in that venue.

 

Thank you: useful reasoning. I'd not thought it was 1700s, but middling to eaarly 19th.

The one thing I'd counter argue is that the veneer would need serious skill and would be wildly expensive to produce in the 20th C. And also, the skills required had and have become far more rare. Making that front in the 1990s would have cost more than an original piece. Does that make sense?