Featured Found something interesting in an inherited piece of furniture (late 1700s?)

<link>http://www.antiquers.com/media/users/julie-gibson.87340/index.rss</link>

Hi. I'm new to the forum, so I apologize in advance for my novice. The information I have is a bit scattered, but I have done my best to organize it. I have spent countless hours on Ancestry, continuing the amazing work of my grandmother, Helen Hawke. The piece in question is a small dressing stand from colonial PA.

I just tripped over my dog's bed and fell onto a table that holds a piece of furniture I inherited. My fall caused the front of the stand to come free from the drawer, revealing what looks like a secret compartment, holding a silver cross pendant for who knows how long. The pendant has been touched often, as it is shiny in the center and looks handmade. Our family is not religious, nor has it been for at least two or three generations. I've never known any of us to wear a cross, nor have I seen one worn in any old photos. The other strange thing I discovered when the stand fell over is that on the underside of the flat surface of the stand is a painting of a baby. Why it would be upside down and not visible is a mystery to me. I would love to hear anything you all might know about this. My dad would have been tickled to know that his stand was hiding a couple of secrets all this time.

My father recently passed away, and I inherited what he always called his "shaving stand". It is from sometime in the late 1700s, and it is believed to have belonged to a relative named Samuel Kreamer (on my paternal grandmother's side). The assumption is because of the initials "SK" or "KS" on the top of the stand. It is beautiful craftsmanship, with all dovetail work, and a pillared mirror attached that tilts. My father used it every day to shave (like me, he was very sentimental and loved to study our family tree). He kept two brushes and a hand mirror inside the drawer which belonged to one of the Bach women. (They came to PA from Germany and were said to have been so frustrated by the American's inability to pronounce "Bach", that they changed it to Baugh to phonetically spell it the way it should have been pronounced.) I believe the brushes and mirror are not the same owner as the shaving stand.

My grandmother's ancestors can be traced directly to four passengers on the Mayflower, John and Joan Tilley, their daughter Elizabeth, and John Howland. This stand comes from these ancestor's grandchildren.

I have attached photos and am happy to provide any other information needed to figure out the secrets behind this piece. Thank you!

 

Welcome Julie. I hope your fall only led to the surprise find, and not to any injuries.
I love the background story, and I'm sure people will be able to help. Unfortunately we can't access your photos, they are set on private.
Can you post them in this thread? And please click on 'full image' when you do.

 

I'll do a few to get the ball rolling

 

That is more likely a decal than a painting.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decalcomania

Debora

 

I think the bobbin turned details on your walnut dressing mirror put this into the first half of the 19th century. Sounds like your secret compartment is really just the space under a drawer. Things could intentionally be hidden there but are just as likely to get pushed out of an over-loaded drawer and lost underneath.

 

Either a Victorian scrap or a 1970s revival decal. I'd go for the decal. If you look up Victorian scrap Christmas decor you'll see what I mean. They weren't always Christmas themed per se.

 

Here she is.........just a bit bigger.....but I'm getting disappointed at the job my AI program is doing!!!!!

​

 

@Julie Gibson - Hello & welcome to the forum!!

Your cross appears to be from a rosary from what I can see. Is it marked in any way? Would you post a close-up photo front & back, please?

 

Hi! Thanks for letting me know about the photos. And no injuries I'm disabled from late stage Lyme Disease and I tripped over my service dog's bed. lol I'll try to add the photos. Thanks!

 

I looked at it closely. There are no markings. It was so creepy to see that baby. Why would someone paint a baby hidden like that? I can't find anything online.

 

Hi! The painting had a chipped part. Not sure if it is a decal. I wish I knew who the original owner was. My dad had it in 1937, and it was in his grandparents home. I'm just assuming that Samuel Kreamer was the owner, but it could be anyone. Samuel Kreamer hit a dead end on my genealogy tree.

 

Definitely not a painting, I think decal rather than scrap. Don't know why someone would put it on the bottom of the piece.
I love those old shaving/dressing mirrors!

 

Thanks!

I think you are correct about the drawer. The cross fell behind it. My dad had a lot of our family heirloom furniture in my childhood home. My mother got angry with my dad over a personal issue and when he was dying, she made him take all our precious items to Goodwill. She took a baseball bat to our beautiful cherry table and chairs. My dad was able to give some of the items to a friend. That person called me 3 months after he passed, telling me she had some gifts from Dad.

One of the things he saved was the ring he wore every single day. It originally belonged to my 2nd great-grandfather, Rear Admiral Hawke, MD, a field surgeon for the Union during the Civil war.

 

The decal is a pretty little image that was placed there at a time when color reproduction was much less common.

Debora

 

finally had time to figure out the photo thing. lol

 

now all u have to do is go edit your post....and click on FULL IMAGE so all the pics are as big as they can be.........

 

Yes, please. If you'd go back and change your photographs from Thumbnail to Full Image. Then they'll be easier for everyone to see. (And not to worry. All new members do the exact same thing in their first few posts.)

Debora