Anyone know what this is

?? by SH12 posted Dec 9, 2021 at 3:25 PM

I picked up this piece at a yard sale have tried to find it online but still have no idea what it is/was used for or what year it is from. Any help would be greatly appreciated. The small piece in front of the mirror goes in one of the holes for the wooden dowel of the roll top, it’s not for ink.

 

where r u
pls post photo's ....under 1 mb....
look around for any marks that may hold a clue

help us....to help you !

 

We can't see a darned thing. If you're on a phone: Send the photo to yourself as an email and set size to Medium. Save the emailed version and upload. I'm a dinosaur and use a real digital camera (as opposed to a real camera with film) and software, but it does work.

 

@SH12 , I see that you uploaded your photo in the 'Gallery', but you set your Album on private, which means we can't see it.
Please check your Gallery or Album settings.

 

I’m located in Boston, MA. I looked for signs/markings but didn’t see any. I believe the glass is lead. Can you guys see it now? I tried adjusting the size and changing the privacy setting. I apologize I’m new to this

 

Yes, we can see it. I'll tag some people for you, @Ghopper1924 , @verybrad .

That's OK, there is always help if you have trouble posting.

 

Here are more pictures from inside the roll top. Maybe a bar? Looks like you put glasses in upside down.

Roll top by SH12 posted Dec 10, 2021 at 12:22 PM

Roll top by SH12 posted Dec 10, 2021 at 12:22 PM

 

interesting......it looks like a bar...of sorts..

 

Maybe someone converted it? That does look like a glass hanger. It's done to keep the dust out of the insides. It would be one way to sell an oak roll-top.

 

I can only think that this was a nostalgia piece from the 1980s-90s designed to evoke the 1870s-80s. The oak is wide grained (new) and if it were more heavily finished, I'd have to think it would be in "honey." The top appears to be customized using "Victorian" motifs for some more modern use, but I have no idea what it would be....a bar is as good a guess as any.

The glass is leaded, but with shoddier work in the cames than one would expect from a period piece. Still, it appears to be solid oak, which beats the crap out of 95% of the new "furniture" that's out there.

 

Agree completely with the above.

 

Ditto.
Maybe if you remove everything above the tabletop, you've got a nice dresser, a little wall mirror, and a project for a library cabinet/bread box thing of some sort.

 

I've seen telephone tables similar.

 

The ones I'm used to are little tables with an attached seat. (they were hot sellers in the New York City area for a while, due to the teeny size.) No idea what the original desk in this design was used for.

 

Another vote for 1990s-ish, or even early 2000s. We went through an oak phase of decorating at that time and bought stuff from our local generic furniture seller that very closely matched your piece.
The pieces were decently made and solid wood, but are widely available for cheap on the resale market here in my bit of the Midwestern USA now.
That said, I've not seen a bar like yours... unusual. (But that doesn't necessarily mean $$$...)