Featured 1930's Handmade Cabinet - questions....

Is it glass or plexi?

The inside was done with a glazing compound you use with windows.

If he had any sort of knowledge of furniture making and or tools it wouldn't have been difficult to deconstruct, then reconstruct.
Have you looked him or his family up on census records to see if there were furniture makers in the family?

As far as selling it, the usefulness/practicality of the piece will come into play.
If you are putting it in a booth, figure out the best way to style it. You're selling an *idea*, even if you're posting it online to sell, still style it for photos.

If the family was prominent, well known and has been in the area for a long time, etc include that.
People collect local pieces and stories too.

The hook looks like a griffin, to me

 

Quirky piece indeed. Do the shelves look original to the piece? I'm just thinking aloud here. It would be odd for a hunting / gun cabinet to have curved glass; and by the same token, it seems to have a very small window for a china cabinet (even though in the 20's and 30's they did tend to have smaller windows) and odd that it would have such substantial clothing hooks if it is indeed a china cabinet. The drawer seems more appropriate for a gun cabinet - as it almost seems too small for any silverware. Could the window gunk be "roofing tar"?

What a puzzler!
Leslie

 

By the by... I did see recently that interest in "brown furniture"; by up and coming folks IS becoming more "trendy". Apparently, for instance, Jenny Lind furniture is impossible to find out east at a reasonable price. Hmmm... food for thought!
Leslie

 

Based on my experience here, Pacific Northwest prices seem to be among the highest in the nation. On the other hand, prices here in semi-rural Midwest are among the lowest.

 

It reminds me of the old side by side secretary's.

The bowed wood pieces could have originally been drawer faces, but they do look to be on the thinner side, so if the maker knew what he was doing, he could have easily known how to bend them, but then why go through the trouble and not make the top and bottom more proportionate?

The glass also looks "short". I'm wondering if the original piece had a chipped corner, but Im not sure if it's possible to cut down bowed glass (I can't cut straight glass to save my life ).
Im also wondering if the glass was from one of the double side by sides that tended to be shorter anyways.

 

SeaGoat, that second one is a looker!
As to the piece in question, nice oak, don't let it go for a few pennies.

 

Interesting! Back about 10 years ago - hubby and I took a load of "nice" (very sellable) antique and vintage furniture out West. It was selling moderately well in the semi-rural Midwest, where we had a shop. We were shocked when NOT a piece sold out West! We finally peddled it to some antique stores at a loss rather than to haul it home again. We were in the LA area - maybe that wasn't far enough North!

Leslie

 

@SeaGoat
Gosh, good points to ponder! I agree that second piece is lovely!
Leslie

 

Yeah, a lot of "odd" in there which is typical for home shop-type pieces.

 

At the time this piece was made, it was not that unusual to have a cabinet with smaller glass area then would seem appropriate - leaving some of the items inside out of view.... this seems odd, but many 20's-30's cabinets did this. The quarter sawn oak looks to be solid, not veneered which was a cost saving method in the early 1900's. A nice home made piece....like these sorts of creations because they're one of one.

 

Just a quick note that curved glass WAS readily available through the end of the 20th century, so this would not have necessarily been a salvage piece. I bought a piece of curved glass to repair a curved front china cabinet broken in a move in the late 90's. I assumed it was beyond repair, but there was a local glass shop that was very nonchalant about ordering a replacement in the exact size and curve needed. They did all kinds of window repairs and also had lots of stained glass pieces, slag glass etc.

Unfortunately they went out of business replaced with a pizza shop soon after so I don't know if this is still available from other retail shops. And I suspect most of our glass now comes from china...

 

I am wondering if it was a bachelor's cabinet. It is the right size and the hooks on the side would go long with that. Most bachelor's cabinets ( i own two) have solid doors but nothing says they had to. Many of the bachelor's cabinet had shelves and hanging space but not all. Some just had shelves.