Queen Anne Drexel Nightstand ID

Have another odd one - Drexel night stands with serial number
798-326
392 43

but the design is odd. Only the front legs are shaped in a queen style, while the rear are straight.

They seem to be original because the finish looks like it was applied post build - if the legs were added later I would suspect the whole piece of wood would have had finish on it.

Are these legit Drexel pieces and are they worth the typical price once I restore?

 

The unfinished bits, particle board parts and drawer bottom lead me to think very recent and inexpensive. Are you sure the finish is wood? Kind of look like formica to me, BWDIK!

 

looks like laminate top and drawer front. Not worth any effort that i can see. plus not a sought after style.

 

No reason to believe that this is not as made. I am not sure this is worth the effort to refinish. Drexel quality dropped drastically in later years. This is a prime example.

 

Yes I believe it's all particle board with veneer sides but laminate top. Legs real ofc.

How do I read that serial number? I can't find any articles online that give clear answer.

 

That's why I came here to ask

I got these for pretty cheap ($50 total) so since they likely aren't very high value antiques, I'm going to clean them up and give them a face lift then offload them.

 

Looks so familiar to me. People who had em got them in the late 70's or early 80's.

 

"Contract" probably indicates they were made for the hospitality industry, which explains the laminate tops as well. Drexel is a mid-tier maker but this style is not sought after, especially with formica tops. These would be good candidates for a painted finish, but even then I'd struggle to get $150 for a pair here in Texas. Not worth the time.

 

Yeah, part of the issue is that when I'm buying off private sellers on Facebook, they don't know anything about furniture and when you go to ask them questions since they're only selling it for a few bucks they will just generally ignore you and move on to the person who is easiest to work with. And if I show up and I have already driven the 20 or 30 minutes to get there generally speaking unless the furniture is in horrible condition I tend to just take it.

I'll only make a little bit of profit but that's fine. People aren't willing to spend big bucks unless it's trendy mcm, so my business strategy revolves more around making many small sales rather than large but infrequently.

 

Finished ☺️