B. Altman chest of drawers

How old is this??????? whats the value?????

 

Id guess 1920's,that linen fold panels on the doors are lovely.

 

I'm guessing that as well, couldn't find anything other than the tag on the back that says B. Altman Co. new York. am I correct in saying this is a chest of drawers?

 

Is the middle section divided up? It might be some sort of cupboard,or possibly a sideboard.I believe Altman's was a retailer.

 

Depending on what's inside the middle section (shelves? Divided bin spaces?) it might be like an armoire. One of my bedroom set's chests has the same top drawer/open middle with two doors/2 bottom drawer arrangement.

Altman's was the retailer, as Johnny mentioned, but was high end enough to have much of their merchandise marked only with their name.

 

Carriage trade department store.

Debora

 

Dimensions and knowing the configuration behind the doors will probably help to determine intended use. Agree with Johnny on age or just a tad later. Looks like walnut. I would think this probably English but, with that Altman's label, it may not be. A look at drawer construction might help determine this.

 

Hi,
Altmans was a wonderful store. It was the only store to take up an entire city block in Manhattan. Macy's has a tiny corner missing since the store that was there did not want to sell. Altmans sold great stuff and sold a lot of antiques. Every counter had several mercury glass lamps from the 30s. When the store went out of business I bought one of the lamps. Hated to sell it but needed the room and the cash. I went into the store to buy a bedroom set. The clerk talked me into buying antique pieces instead. He explained the 5K I was going to spend on the set would be worth 300 in ten years. He also explained the 3K I spent on the antique pieces would be worth 9K in 10yrs. He was so right. I just LOVED B.Altmans.
greg

 

Thanks guys, here is the inside, has these two pull out drawers or whatever, it is approximately 41" wide by 45" tall.

 

Pardon it now full of junk, mostly junk, aint calling that bible junk of course, haha, but I believe this thing is old, and me wanting it to be could be clouting my judgement haha, but it is very much well made, solid wood, in very good shape, was just curious at what the value may be?

 

Hi,
Nice chest of drawers. The two low cut drawers were for underwear and socks.. i love the linen fold design on the doors.
greg

 

Believe this to be a bedroom piece at this size and configuration. Secondary wood makes me think this is likely American.

How old do you want it to be? I think this is probably pre-WWII.

Value is very much dependent on where you live and how you are selling. If keeping this, a fair insurance value might be about $350.00. You would certainly be able to replace it with something comparable for that kind of money. If you had to sell, I doubt you would get anywhere near that much. For example, I could see this selling in the $50.00-75.00 range at a rural auction. Retail and big city prices would likely be higher.

 

that's a classy lookin piece, and the full length double slide outs, let a gentleman see and prepare his wardrobe for the day..

 

Thank you.

 

I agree with everyone else on how nice that piece looks!!!! Don't know where you are, but around here (central MA), if you're not in a rush....wait it out!! Fix those few dings, ad it in a couple of markets and here, I can see $200 - $400, estimated! LOVE those carved doors!!!!!! GREAT selling feature!!! Along with condition!! That's just MHO!!!!

 

Thanks so much, A friend of mine gave it to me, even brought it to me because his wife hates antiques, go figure, so I loved the way it look and said yes I want it. So, my intentions were to just use it like in the pic, So I will hang on to it, I build various pieces along the farmhouse style and originally when I saw this invisioned a paint distress, but now I aint touchin it! haha, but it makes me want to build a replica just because of the workmanship that went into antiques.

 

You've forgotten Bloomingdale's!

Debora

 

Hi Debora,
Bloomingdale's to me was not a real store. Altman's knew your name after two visits. They never moved displays. I could walk in there blindfolded and go right to the the part of the store where I needed to be. I like to be pampered, only Tiffany's and Altman"s were TRUE department stores. At least when I lived in Manhattan.
greg

 

I remember "Bloomies" when it was a bunch of crates and rolling racks on the sidewalk. Fortunoff's was the same. I agree with Greg re: Altman's, and not only because I dated a woman who was the curator of English silver there.......................though they did have a bit of a reputation for being conservative and stodgy.