Old dresser....

So we recently got this dresser from someone on craigslist cheap as we were needing one. The more we looked at it the more we were interested in what it actually is and when it might have been made. It has hand cut dovetails and rabbits, bottoms and backs of drawers feel hand planned, square cut or stamped nails, old growth/tight tight growth rings, and a lot of warping with clumsy repairs. Bottoms of the drawers are 2 pieces. One floating panel in the front held in place by a nailed in stopper. Can't tell what wood it is made of but the faces are hard wood and supports are a soft wood. Kind of feel like poplar on those, but I'm far from an expert. There definitely seems to be a lot of add ons (nail repairs, screws, et cetera) to it so that is making it difficult to date as well. I can't find any makers marks anywhere other than face marks and score lines from construction.
So, don't know if it's old, or some dude made it in his garage. Either way, we like it and it works. So any help would be appreciated.
Link to dresser album on imgur: https://imgur.com/a/z0rXk

 

Welcome to the forum fizzy.
Could you please post the pictures here in the thread? Imgur is murder if you're not a member.
Here is some info how:

 

My first impression is circa 1850 that possibly has been stripped of it's veneer. I have a very similar piece. . mahogany veneer over pine.

 

Drew, I was wondering where the veneer went, agree it appears to have been stripped off of, at least, portions of this chest of drawers.

Fizzy, not sure why you are holding a nail to show? My blurry eyesight isn't great but I don't see where this type of nail has been used? What are you showing with the hammer head there?

 

I think 1850 is right on or just a tad earlier. Think this is a solid wood country piece. Hard to tell wood from these pics. Maybe cherry or, possibly, maple with a red stain. Secondary wood is pine. Looks correct to me other than probably having been refinished.

 

More pieces were being veneered after it became more affordable after the 1840's. It was applied to top, sides drawer fronts. What often happened was over time, veneer became chipped, water damaged, so instead of do a costly and difficult repair, it was stripped off to the base wood, re-stained or clear coated. Surely also may not be veneered as noted, just refinished several times over the past 160 plus years. Either way, it's an honest well made antique chest.

 

Hello, thank you for all your responses, very interesting to read. Sorry about the account mix ups with the IDs. We were having issues registering, I thought at first it might have been an issue when using my phone so signed up again using the computer but had the same issues and it all became a bit of a mess, seemed to fix itself later though. I can upload the photos on here, might be easier to see details. The nail looked rather old so thought it might be helpful to take a photograph of it to help with figuring out the dressers age. There's a part at the top of the dresser that needs to be reattached, it's a small backboard, and the nail was sticking out and in the way, so took the opportunity to get a photo of it in case it was helpful We are wanting to clean it and use it for our clothes. Does anyone have any recommendations on what to use to clean it with?

 

Ok makes total sense now thanks

 

I always start with a slightly damp rag, then use cleaners only if I need them and pick the cleaner based on what caused the stain.

The nail doesn't look that old and not hand-forged - you can still buy machine made square cut nails which is what that looks like.

The feet on yours make me think somewhat later than 1850 (i.e. 1870 or so) assuming they are original but I think anywhere in 1840 - 1880 is possible.