Any thoughts on this old beauty?

I found this (what I believe to be) writing desk in the garbage. I'm looking for any info anyone may have on about the time period, style, region of production, value, worth refurbishing, etc... It needs lots of work, but its definitely salvageable.
Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks

Pics are down below...sorry, still learning the ropes around here!

 

JMat, your photos didn't come through. Use the "Upload a File" button at the bottom of the posting window to add photos. It won't accept very large photos, so please make sure they are less than 1Mb before posting. I can't recall the maximum that will be accepted.

 

Hmm, I did that and it said it went through. Thank you for the heads up! Question...are you able to see my pictures/albums on my profile?

 

Yes, I was able to find them... but I had to open your profile and then click on the tab that showed them. Just FYI, it's pretty unlikely that most people here would do that to see things that people have questions about. We tend to like photos inserted into the question thread.

That being said, I'm not one of the furniture experts -- but I'd guess early 20th century for this one. But wait for somebody like verybrad or others who will have a better idea.

 

I believe these are all rabbit joints and hand cut nails, which would seemingly make this a very old piece. The locks and latch mechanism with the wood screws, I would assume, "date" the piece a little better.

 

See, I told you that I wasn't an expert!

 

Thank you for the response. Can you see the ones I inserted in to my previous post at least?

 

Yes, I definitely see them. Nice photos!

 

As "crusty" as this piece is...I am still baffled someone would just throw it in the garbage!

 

Actual dimensions

 

I'm a little confused. At first I thought that the "desk part" was sitting on top of the pedestal. Now I *think* that the desk part is the "top drawer" of the pedestal. Is that right?

How tall is the whole thing?

 

Dimension pics above

 

Yes the "desk part" is the top drawer. I removed it to show details of construction. When using the desk section it is not necessary to remove it from the unit. The other lower two drawers are standard drawers. I just included pics of all dimensions. 38" tall.

 

Guess it was designed for a short person sitting in a short chair (when using it.) I just sat in one of my very old chairs (seat 17inches from the floor) and checked where 26inches would be in relation to me. It could work but for a taller person or a taller chair it would be difficult.

Maybe it's just me, but it all looks like put together from parts of other things. Certainly compact and ingenious use of space.

 

Not sure about being made of parts. It appears to be all the same wood and construction style throughout. The bottom drawer handle is obviously not original. The top 2 are however. One is clearly broken.

 

And I certainly don't know either. That was just a first impression from pictures and not being right in front of it.

 

The poor thing has been there done that, but it's still standing. I'm not sure if it's worth enough to worry about whether refinishing would help or hurt. Brad might know. In his neck of the woods, painting it would make it easier to sell, if selling is the idea. If it were mine I'd clean the bejeebers out of it, give it a coat of paste wax, and leave bad enough alone.

 

If I was going to refinish it I would take it all apart and start from the ground up. Im certain I can make this piece look very nice again...I'm just not sure if its one of those pieces I shouldn't make any major changes to and just "tighten up". If its nothing special, I'll start taking it apart and make it a usable piece again.

 

I am totally confused about this. Is it just the 3-drawer stand thing or is there more to it? Is the thing with the wood stacked on it part of it? If just the three drawer thing, it is more like a file cabinet or an organizer than a desk. Yes, it has the writing surface but that doesn't really make it a desk. Appears to have had the legs cut off or maybe it sat on a base. 19th century and maybe pine.

 

Its just the stand alone 3 drawer unit. The wood (from what I can tell) is mahogany with softer wood used for the drawers sides and bases. It is all solid wood and very heavy. There is no laminated material and no veneer. There are rabbit joints and M&T joints. The underside shows 4 holes at each corner which may have attached to a base or the had some sort of foot or leg attached.