Secretary ID and Value?

Hi - This is a dark wood secretary in poor condition which I inherited. I am planning to trash or donate it but I noticed vintage secretaries selling for some amounts so I wanted to check first. (Apologize for the poor pictures!)

Dimensions: 46” wide x 78” high x 12” deep

There is a wood hutch on top of it, please ignore.

I'd very much appreciate knowing what it is -- style, date, wood? Would it have any value?

Thanks!

 

Here are the pictures:

 

View attachment 161515

 

Please ignore 'view attachment - I added a photo but saw it was a duplicate and tried to delete it.

 

You will find the furniture experts here are pretty good if you can provide clear pictures. Clear pics of the handles, hinges, locks, inside and bottom of the drawers also help lots.
Cheers
Stephen

 

Yes, those who know most about furniture would appreciate more photos and all of them in focus. Your second and third photos look fine but the first is pretty blurry.

 

Hi,
In the top between the two swan necked pieces there is a small flat area. Is there a hole in it? I ask because a finial may have been lost. Looks like a 1940 piece but unless better photos it will be hard to tell. I would give it house room somewhere.
greg

 

So sorry about the photographs. I'm not sure what happened. The photos showed as clear and crisp when I opened them in GIMP, but I see now that was at 25%. They became blurry at 100%. I shot some more, attached here. In the future I will shoot in Nikon RAW instead of JPEG Fine. I hope the photos attached will be satisfactory.
In terms of the top detail, there is open space. This is obscured by the fact that there is a small wooden hutch on top of the secretary which is too heavy for me to take down by myself.
I lightened the color in some images to be able to see the detail. It's dark brown wood.

 

Looks like a typical 40s mahogany piece but could be as early as the 20s. Basing this on the hardware I can see in the last pic. Looks like the pulls are probably replacements but the hinge is clearly 20th century. Not a lot of value if in rough condition. Can buy similar for less than $100.00 here in the Midwest. Fixed up it is not worth a whole lot more.

 

Thank you!
VeryBrad - I have a question. I posted an ID request for what turned out to be a maple post-war sideboard with colonial styling. The sideboard was in excellent condition except for a missing drawer pull. I'm surprised that this mahogany secretary in terrible condition would be expected to bring in even a small amount (less than $100) while the sideboard in such good condition would be expected to bring in less or the same. Is a secretary, in the abstract (?), more valuable than a sideboard, or is the fact that it is mahogany as opposed to maple, or some other factor? In the end it doesn't matter as I will probably have to donate both but I have a number of other pieces and I really enjoy learning about this and appreciate your, and everyone's, expertise and generosity!!!

 

In general, a secretary is less desirable than a sideboard. Seems tall large pieces are out right now. Mahogany is less desirable than blond woods right now. Also, condition means a lot. When talking about values under a $100.00, a lot of variables can come in to play. I regularly see smaller secretaries in the $35.00-50.00 range. Yours being larger may be worth a bit more to some people. Others won't want it at all due to large size, making it harder to sell.

Really, the primary variable is market. Values here in the Midwest may not pertain to those elsewhere. For example, I know that more formal mahogany pieces do better in the Southeast than they do here. They may love your secretary down there and pay more.

 

Hi,
With all the different brasses it may be a hard sale. Although if I saw it for 100 bucks I might be tempted to buy and get it a good fix. I love refinishing pieces but the cost might deter me. now if it was 50 bucks I would snatch it up.
greg

 

Thanks Brad and Greg!