Cabinet

Hi,
First time poster, frequent lurker.

Please help me identify this cabinet. It was bought in the Napa,CA area in the 1960’s. I’d like to have any ideas of the age and provenance.

It appears to be walnut. At one time a nail popped out and it looked like it was hand forged.

Any ideas?

Mike

 

Hi, provenance is the history of the piece, who made it, who owned it and who sold it on to who. Someone here may be able to help you with who likely made it but who owned it and who sold it on to who is something none of us will likely know

 

This is a walnut washstand ca. 1880s-90s in a borderline Renaissance Revival/Eastlake style. It’s virtually impossible to say who made it without a stamp or label of some sort, since there were hundreds of furniture makers across the country at that time and very few makers used labels.
This would likely have been part of a bedroom set that would have included a dresser and bed frame.

 

Ghopper is spot-on.

 

as per usual !!!!!

 

Great to know. I guessed I used provenance incorrectly- curious where it was made. United States then?
Thanks, Mike

 

See above. Nothing definite can be said without labels or a strong stylistic resemblance to better-known pieces. I suppose it could have been made just about anywhere .
However, realistically speaking, given the state of transportation at the end of the 19th Century, it’s likely that it was made in the U.S. and on the west coast. It’s less likely that an earlier owner would have carted this all the way from, say, New York. It’s more likely that it was purchased (and stayed) in the area. But again, nothing definitive. There’s an outside chance that it was made at an outpost in Antarctica and towed to Napa by a cadre of penguins….

 

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/hUf1VHtqJ7s?feature=share

,they could do it , too !!!