Featured How Old is This Dresser?

I'm so excited to finally have this in the house. I got it back in October but I only got around to making it house safe (it was in an old unlived in house that smelt mouldy) this last week. She's exactly what I love in dressers, but as with everything I'd love to know how old it is.

As a complete newbie to furniture I tried doing my own research, which led me to mid 19th century french (a bit of a given since I'm in France). I also found an exact piece listed as 1850's with the lense which seemed to confirm my thoughts. However I'm no expert and there's a couple of points that give me pause.

Here she is in (almost) all her splendor


Here is the back and the lower half of the inside:


The drawers:
I read these dovetails are handmade (?), and the base is double panelled. The lock is original, there are no pulls, only a key which might be annoying in the long run.

The yellow discoloration you can see at the top of this drawer is glue, a later repair?


She's also made of all kinds of wood (at least to me). I don't think she has a veneer as such, more of a thin panel (veneer is super thin?) on the front of rose wood? Or another type that I can't remember the name of now. Anyway, I thought the rest might be oak or walnut, but now it looks like pine. The side boards of the drawers are definitely different though, much more like oak.

She's not in the best shape and I probably paid too much for the condition but she's mind and I love her. She'll be with me for a long time!
As always your thoughts are appreciated, thank you!
If you need more/detailed photos let me know​

 

She is lovely, and a nice warm tone too. 1850s French sounds right to me.

The key only thing is quite usual on the Continent, I see it here too. My "waterfall" style wardrobe also has keys only, on all four doors.

Veneer is simply a layer of wood on the 'functional' wood. Functional is not the official term, I'm sure @verybrad and @Ghopper1924 can give you the right term.

 

Music to my ears! I wonder who had her when she was new? The plan is storage for clothes and my ebay listings, but the drawers are slightly narrower. Hope there's enough space for everything!

Thanks for tagging them, I'd love to hear what they have to add!

 

It seems a bit later to me, perhaps 1870s. The veneer (yes, that’s the correct term) appears to be walnut. With burl (burr in England, and I would think France as well) on the drawer fronts. The pine secondary wood on the inside of the “carcasse” and drawers is unusually clean, almost as if it had been rebuilt in the past few decades. Perhaps it has.

I’m delighted that you love the piece; hopefully you’ll become interested in other such pieces in the future!

 

Handsome piece with legitimate age. Very different than anything we have here so I am probably unreliable as to age. I almost get a Biedermeier vibe to it, which would place it a tad earlier than your 1850 date. Not sure how that would relate to French origin but just a thought.

 

I thought so too. The construction at the back seems to be for something fairly lightweight.

 

Lovely, I'm so glad I found a good'un. 1840-1870s then? I've spent all evening reminding my family who was alive at the same time as my dresser, which they've all enjoyed!

She's all set up so I'll get a picture tomorrow, hopefully the sun will shine!

And I do see the vibe you're getting at with Biedermeier! Thanks for introducing me to a new style I can love!
Found this chair, new bucket list piece! I see similarities to my favorite kind of scuplture/carvings, its the same kind of wood. Maybe I should share my small collection? I can't remember if I did that already though haha

 

Gorgeous!

I don't think you did, so please show.

 

I'll do that! You'll see one of them in this photo, and its my favorite probably

Anyway, here is the dresser all in place! (we won't talk about the sad plant) The decor minus the picture was on my last dresser that wasn't as long, so I think I'll be doing some tweaking later on, but she looks purty for now!

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Yes, she does, very purty. Love that veneer.
The kitty is sweet. She could have been made in Burma/Myanmar or thereabouts.

 

that's lovely....but I wouldn't keep it in the direct sunlight like that for very long...

the plant on the other hand......

 

Oh no, the sun was only on it a couple of minutes, it was mostly stormy today. I also pushed away the curtain that usually protects it to get the most light on it. My room's quite dark otherwise. Hence the plant.... which also needed watering. My plants are a touch dramatic but very forgiving generally.