Skg info on 19thc Bureau, MA

Hello, I seek information on this piece. Photos posted here:

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1EOew1DDhCwMMrjhlEYOINQNOaw_6vzzs?usp=sharing

I seek any information that will help me restore it with minimal measures for daily use. If there are questions you think I *ought* to ask, please feel free to chime in.

Background & description:
· Acquired from an estate sale, Worcester County, MA.
· 52" tall, 42" wide, 19" deep
· Back side of just about every plank has the feel of a hand-plane. Visible in person, unable to capture on camera.
· Some planks have what appear to be band-saw marks.
· Large drawers have 1/8" thick quilted birdseye maple veneer. Glove drawer fronts are solid quilted birdseye maple.
· The rest of the piece is made of solid walnut, maple, and other woods.
· Top coat of finish (where not worn off) indicates lacquer, put on with sloppy hand.
· Test on finish under & behind glove drawers indicate shellac with ruddy tint (my bet? It’s aniline dye, so after about 1850s).
· Bottom board inside case feels completely different. Convinced it's plywood.

Questions:
1. Does it seem to be American, or European?
2. Any info on maker or factory?
3. How would you characterize the period/style?
4. The case has loose joints; any guides/pointers to construction methods? The info may help me to make solid, workmanlike repairs.
5. That tinted shellac--I speculate that it was used to make the piece appear to be made of mahogany. Does this make sense? Was that ever a thing?
6. Finish is worn, damaged, and faded. What was the style sought by the maker?
7. Closeup photo of drawer front with pull removed. There is a ghost of a knob on one of the holes. Also the holes are very different diameters. I think the pulls replaced knobs, maybe wood. Does this make sense?

Thanks in advance for any help. If you want me to include all these photos, I will, I just thought a link to Drive will be more efficient.

 

for u maybe.....but not for us..

it's 2024, and opening unknown links... not so much

 

files have been resized well under 1MB, can't load any more.

 

Specifically, keep getting file too large error.

 

We're a little old school when it comes to PHOTO's...... but we want to see yours in the best light........ so here's the deal......

You might want to copy and save this for reference for a while....it helps when you're new!!!

For Future reference, when posting images:

Each image MUST be UNDER 1 MB....
There are instructions on site here on how to reduce the size of your image, if that is the problem......you are allowed up to 10 images per post!!! Here are some links to the instructions:

Try emailing them to yourself as "medium" size, they should then be under 1 MB!

If on the computer:
https://www.antiquers.com/threads/posting-a-thread-and-uploading-pictures.15990/

If on an iPhone:
https://www.antiquers.com/threads/resizing-photos-on-i-phone.35097/

And if on an Android phone:
https://www.antiquers.com/threads/using-an-android-phone-for-pics-on-antiquers.41709/

As an added note, when you have your photos LISTED, BUT BEFORE you hit POST, please click on the wording that says to "INSERT EVERY IMAGE AS FULL IMAGE" !! That way, we're not clicking on little thumbnails, but get to see all of the images full sized!! Thanks! Remember, it takes a bit for MOST new members to get the hang of it, but it's really quite simple once you get used to it!!!" If you still have questions, DON'T hesitate to ASK!!!!

(credit Aqui...)

Now have fun, & get 'r done !!

Help us....to help you !!!!

 

Thank you for forwarding constructive advice. I still have a problem. They are all well under 1MB, but the website will not load up. See screen shot of the files I have prepped for upload. What am I missing?

 

are u loading them as a batch, or singles?
the 1st two pics came up fine.....so I'm missing something as well...

 

shoutout to @Ghopper1924 ! AND I'm LOVING that bureau!!!!!!!!!!!

 

The design looks to be neo-Classical, based on mid-19th Century antecedents, but later, with some strong aesthetic movement elements in the drawer hardware and case turnings. Its possible that the drawer hardware was added later; you noted something about a ghost of a knob on one of the drawers, and it's possible that the entire dresser had glass knobs, like you see at the top of the piece. I would want to look at it in person to ascertain this. But the present pulls look historic and go with the piece, so I wouldn't worry too much about it.

The case seems to be walnut with birdseye maple veneer on the drawers, as you noted. Although it was certainly a thing to make less expensive woods look more expensive with techniques like grain painting, I do not think that is the case with this piece. The curly maple veneer would have been a selling point and nothing to cover up.

Without having the piece in front of me, I'd say this dresser is from about 1870 or so, probably American. Impossible to ascribe a maker to it without some kind of label, since there were dozens, if not hundreds, of cabinet makers in the country at that time, and the vast majority did not label their work.

This dresser is not within a price point where you should have to worry overly much about finishes. Someone seems to have messed with it in the past, in any case. You seem to be aware of how to spruce up shellac, which is usually done (lightly) with a brush and denatured alcohol, to even things up. If you wanted to strip the whole thing and thoughtfully refinish it, that would work too, although my personal approach is to intervene with the least intrusive method possible.

Since you like the piece, I'd say the main thing is to respect the original intention of the craftsman and keep close to the original appearance. Which you seem to have no problem doing.

 

I wonder if it is from New England/Maine area. It has that Sheraton style look. Lovely!

 

Been trying to upload photos, one at a time, zero success, in spite of all photos resized to well under 1MB. Shots include hand-cut dovetails, the interior (some bracing timbers are literally quarter-sawn tree limbs), and some of the problems with the loose joints on the case. Thankfully, every single drawer joint is still tight and square.

 

Thank you for your feedback and notes, very helpful. And yes, I am thrilled with this piece, I chose it because I want to live with it.
While it would have been very exciting for this piece to be, say, Federal, or American Empire, it would also mean that any restore/refurbish would adversely impact value. To leave it in its present state would make it hard to live with on a daily basis.
I chose this piece because it struck me as very special, but not so precious that some judicious repair and refurbishment will kill its value-and I mean value in a heritage or historical sense.
As I cleaned and examined the piece at home, I noted so many cues that indicated hand work, or old methods, like band saw marks. Also the use of solid planks in odd ways. The top is one solid slab of birdseye quilted maple, with the impressive figure laid DOWN, showing the straight grain on top. Who does that, unless you want to make the top look like something that's not maple? The bracing blocks on that top slab are literally quarter sections of split tree branches with the bark still on it. So idiosyncratic, seemed like the work of one guy in a shop doing what he wanted, as opposed to some production boss. I became excited and worried at the same time. But then the dye in the shellac (assuming that's what it is) put it after 1860, which was a relief-and a disappointment.
I dislike the flimsy replacement pulls, and the very sloppy lacquer on top; easy to see why in person, and also in the photos I posted to Google Drive. That will come of with some lacquer thinner. Ugh. I will be using this piece daily, and so I will probably use old-school phenolic varnish--Epifanes, or Schooner--on the top itself.
This came from Worcester County, Massachusetts. The seller told me it had been in his family and he didn't know how long. His parents are gone, and the bureau came down to him through his aunt who had passed. Zero marks on it, except for some wax pencil on the inside of the drawers with numbers on them--so that you put them back in the right order. I was really hoping someone would say, "That's the work of Joe Bagofdonuts from Leominster, who built furniture from 1850-1900!" It may happen yet.

 

Hi Laura, I acquired it from a man who was selling his passed aunt's home and belongings in Worcester County, Massachusetts. He said the piece had been his grandparents' and then his aunt's. He said his family went way back in Worcester County. From about 1830 to about 1960, there was a huge furniture hub in Gardner, MA, also in Worcester County, so I wondered if it had been made there. Zero marks on it.

 

I think the reason you're having problems uploading files is that your screen shot shows the file type as photostatic collage, so instead of "saving" your image files, I think you'll need to "export" them as jpeg files (.JPG) in order to upload them here. I'm not familiar with the program you're using, so I don't know what the steps are for exporting files, but it might be an option further down on the "file" menu.

 

Deviate a bit with Ghopper on this, thinking it might be a tad earlier. I would say late classical (maybe neo-classical is the same thing?) and circa 1850. I don't see the aesthetic movement influence he mentions and think the pulls are all wrong for this piece. They are more typical of 1890-1900 mass produced oak furniture. Those exagerated scroll decorations at the top are a nod to Federal style, but nothing else really suggest it. I do think American and it may not have been made too far afield from where you found it.

 

Thanks for the investigative help. TBH, I have no idea how or why the images are showing as "photostatic collage." A couple weeks ago, my system updated Windows and suddenly a bunch of stuff to do with image making/editing/viewing changed. AND Paint doesn't work anymore--not supported. Hijacked by the Gates Empire. When nothing was wrong in the first place.
I will fiddle with the tools I have and see if I can get them to remember how to recognize a jpg as a jpg, a png as a png, and so forth.

 

Thanks for your insights. It is very exciting for this to have an earlier date, and more confidence that it is American. I am also pleased and relieved that you agree with my assessment about the knobs vs the current pulls. Who doesn't love it when someone agrees with you? I will continue to fiddle with my tools.

 

@verybrad

Well done! However, I’ll stick with my assessment of the stiles or corner pieces as aesthetic-influenced. On reflection I believe that my assessment of the drawer pulls as glass knobs all the way was correct, would agree now, thanks to your input, that the pulls are later though still historic.

 

Test file in GIF. Thank you in advance for your patience. Dovetail, front, top drawer.