Help with NC corner cupboards and stepback

3rd cabinet- believed to be mid-1800s.

 

More of #3

 

now , that's what I can more pictures !!

 

And #2. As stated earlier, this one is rough, has been cut down, missing upper doors. But it also shows a ton of character in the amount of wear, knots on the shelves, etc. it clearly was a decent level of quality when initially built but time hasn’t been kind.

 

More of the #2

 

And the last of #2

 

OK, I guess I have to respond since you were kind enough to post all those pics. But as I said, it would be better for you to run these pics by the auction site I mentioned earlier. Nothing I say is about the North Carolina-ness of your pieces, only my thoughts from examining and in some cases disassembling and repairing a lot of antiques.

Piece 1: You mentioned a newly added leg and I didn’t see that (I only looked at the pics that you displayed, not the post with a list of file names that seemed to be the same). I would have liked to see underneath, which I don’t think you showed. But I think I know what is going without it.

My feeling is this is a piece put together with old and new parts and wood. I don’t believe it started life together. The glazed doors are the best part (my concern 6 was incorrect), and do have glass from late 19th century or earlier. New parts look to include hinges and all the top moulding. The top doors look to have a different history from bottom doors and not built by the same craftsman. I assume someone in the 20th century started with two sets of old doors and old wood (plus new wood where needed) and put this piece together.

Piece 3: Also looks 20th century built from old wood, but without the nice doors piece 1 started with.

Piece 2: This is in my opinion the best of these three pieces and started life together and looks to be walnut (not sure about shelves, maybe walnut too). As you pointed out the top has very unfortunately been cut off and top doors missing. Unfortunately this has happened to numerous antiques when moved to rooms or doorways with lower ceilings.

I am going to guess that Piece 2 started life as a built in dining room piece and not a free standing piece of furniture. That would explain missing base (maybe nothing more than room wood flooring was used) yet why there seems to have never been legs. Oh, and glad to see that at least one of the quarter circles was replaced over time (pic 6).

I believe Piece 2 to be from mid 19th century or later, based on the two piece door panels.

 

hot_rodaholic - wow,we could've turned this exchange into a 3-part PBS 'Nova' special.
PS-Maybe next time you could share some of your hot rods !
PSS-But thanks all for the 'above & beyond' effort to elucidate the methodology of assessing a true fairly pristine period piece from a bastardized one to repro/forgery-WOW !!

 

Finally got around to looking at new photos on my PC. Learned not to comment on photos seen on my phone, as you really can't see enough detail.

Beyond what has been discussed, I do agree that #2 is walnut. I guess I need to say that the exposed nails used as decoration bother me a bit. I don't know if this was a Thing back when this was purported to have been made but not something you often see. The two board doors also give me pause.

As for #1, I think I am totally out of my league on this one. If it is a fake, it is an attractive one. I do think Jeff makes a convincing argument and I am now convinced.

I agree with Jeff on #3. The most convincing sign that this is a cobbled piece is the water mark on the bottom of the top door. How does that get there without some extreme damage to the surrounding wood? Cuts and sanded edges are all just too crisp for this to be an original piece.

I hope that the OP will get an opinion from an expert in Southern furniture. This has been a good thread for discussion and learning. I can always stand to learn more and appreciate everyone's willingness to participate.

 

It was an eye-opening discussion and great to see your and Drum's analysis.I've read other threads from Jeff, and unfortunately-the guy does seem to get rather intense sometimes re other members casual comments.
Plus-dissing this site as a casual venue full of amateur pickers,well...we most def do get a few of those. 'What's it worth/How should I list it ?'
BUT-We also have You,Dragonfly,AJ & Taupou. The fact that our entire team isn't Brit Museum or Smithsonian level talent is what you get with free, as in FREE.

 

I think I came to the wrong place, I never knew that was the purpose of the site.

Ditto. I am a collector and researcher first and foremost. If and when I sell pieces, it is to upgrade my collections. Or, in this stage of life, to downsize, although I still succumb to some beauties lacking in my collections.
Many of our regular members have a similar interest and mindset. And we all share our knowledge willingly and free.

And yes, we help pickers too, just like we help fellow collectors. If it helps people supplement their income I'm just as happy as when it helps a fellow collector finally identify that one mystery piece.

 

The one thing about this site is that it doesn't discriminate (rarely) between the casual 'drive-by' what's it worth person & the Dragonfly depth collector.
As a matter of fact,much of the stuff that gets shared here bores me to tears,but why be an elitist ? (just go back to napping).
I mean if I shared a piece of furniture here that I suspected to potentially be 200 or 300 years old, would I like to get as much attention as Jeff & Brad lavished on the NC Cupboard-HELL **** YES !!!...would I expect it-HELL **** NO !
You'd normally pay an arm,a leg and an ear for that kind of evaluation- i'd say hotrod-from-hell got damned lucky....am I jealous-of course not (bull**** I aint !).

 

About antiquers.com as a picker site.

As I said my comment wasn’t meant to be offensive: aren’t pickers and pickers/dealers currently stars of hit reality shows, with thrift store visitors booming? And I have done both part time myself, so not trying to put myself down.

So why is that an accurate statement? First, look at why this site even exists. Davey who runs this site is refreshingly upfront about the fact that his business is getting paid to dispose of estate furnishings. But rather than put it all in the dumpster (which costs him money - dumpsters aren’t free) he picks through it to extract out the items of value so he can make a second profit stream on the items that would otherwise be discarded.

When you have to go through everything in an estate all kinds of stuff appears, and creating a site to collect advice on what is worth reselling and what can be disposed of makes perfect sense. That is why this site exists.

And who uses this site? By far the biggest users who post items are pickers of thrifts and estates looking for the same advice. Again, these people are upfront about where these items are coming from and the fact that they aren’t sure what they are - from journey with his thrift store “friends” to Charlie with his “chazzer” pickups to dagger and bulldog and on and on: by far the most frequent threads are started by self acknowledged pickers. Just look at the most active thread on this site by far “Finds”, which is even pinned it gets so much activity from the many pickers who want to brag about their thrift store “finds”. I have to believe at least 95% of the threads and posts here are from self named pickers.

I also pointed out in detail that there are also people who answer a lot of these threads with their knowledge or with image search, and I would certainly have included all the ones you listed plus more like Deborah and Tallcakes and more I’m sure I’m forgetting.

But my statement was about the purpose of the site. So was I dissing the site, or just being honest about it?

 

Funnies..... &, rants & raves have more posts each , than Finds !!

Davey...... is a moderator and does not run this site !

I find that there are more folks who come here asking about their items , who have inherited items, or collected items, than those you classify as pickers.

& for sure the site does not exist just for Davey to brag about the items he finds during his house clearances..!!

 

Agree.

 

OK, so the THIRD most active thread, but the MOST active thread that is accessible to non-members or members not logged in. Does that change the point I am making?

OK, then I must have this wrong, I thought he was the one paying to keep this site up. If not, I admit I was wrong. But that makes me wonder who IS paying to keep the site up? I don’t see that anywhere, and maybe what I am remembering was simply a joke that I didn’t understand?

Well I would love to see the number of POSTS from new members who inherit items (who usually post once or a couple times then leave) compared to POSTS by repeat members who continually post their latest thrift finds. Pretty sure it is overwhelmingly the latter.

Oh, and please don’t put words in my mouth. I never said Davey “brags”. Are you trying to create get me thrown off the site?

If you want to discuss this with me, which I’m happy to do, then let’s both do our best to avoid name calling and mis-characterization.

 

Oh, and please don’t put words in my mouth.


" but you are calling me a BITCH? WTF?"

I never called you a bitch !!

 

How did antiques come into being..... thread..

Bakers writes..
".
Technically, the domain name belongs to Peter Davis who also started some others for Coins, Stamps and Sports Cards. The original launch apparently did not attract the same kind of participation as the others and he shut it down (not sure when.) Then in spring 2014, when the eBay boards underwent a drastic change to moderation (and not for the better) and those of us who had been harassed to the extreme by a troll who seemed to be a "favorite" of the new mods despite his nasty behavior (which included "reporting" those who stood up to him to the extent that many excellent contributors were banned)were bemoaning the state of affairs.
Daveydempsey knew Peter well from his membership in CoinTalk and he approached Peter about resurrecting Antiquers - with the promise of course that all of us who were upset at eBay would jump ship in a heartbeat. It took some very clever communication techniques to get the word out (eBay forbids "encouraging other members to leave the site) but it worked!

 

Davey, never asks what needs to be disposed of........ but on occasion will show us his new finds , & even less often , will ask for help where his is uncertain of an items backstory.
He doesn't own this site and is not the driving force behind why this site exists .... although ,,,, we owe him a boon for it's reincarnation !

& I never said... that you said he brags about his finds...... although, he does brag about his pooch....... which bothers us nought !!!

 

Nothing I have said or done recently , has in any way shape or form , been in any manner whatsoever , an attempt to try and get you booted from this site.

& as proof........... you're still here !

but..... just asking that question , for everyone to see ..... I find insulting !