Empire-style cabinet with strange feature

Bought this small cupboard recently for a very nice price. according to the previous owner it was at least a 100 years old. It does look older than my repro empire secretaire which I assume was made in the 40 or 50s, so 1910s maybe? (real empire is more like 1810s that is why I use empire-style).
I was quite surprised to find some sort of coat of arms on the inside of the cabinet, why is it there? Why hidden like that? Intriguing....never seen that before...

 

I like the repair angle....still....nice night table...

 

the wood on the back might be the oldest part of it? It kind of looks that way, it has a couple of big cracks in it. Though the sides aren't entirely flat either, I can feel some slight uneveness there. Anyone able to tell me something about the age?

 

I think this is a period piece. Would put it to about 1830. The back is oak and I wonder if the wood was salvaged from something else.... hence the medallion.