Featured Help to ID this old piece

1. USA, it was bought from castle hill which is a bed and breakfast in Oxford,ms. We are not even sure what its original purpose was. It has solid brass brackets and knobs with obvious oxidation and aging.
2. Please give measurements - Height, Width and Depth. It’s 8.5ft tall, 4ft wide,19 inches deep.
3. I am unable to move it to see the back. It is very heavy! I don’t know anything about antiques, but this looks old to me.

it has hand writing on the indoor of the drawers maybe marking the panels before they put it together.

 

Thomas, was it sold to you as an antique?

Debora

 

It was not. It was just listed for sale on a local marketplace. Not much information was given. I had movers pick it up and deliver it.

 

Beautiful piece! I've never seen anything quite like it; I'm thinking maybe a custom project. Thinking that it evokes the 1840s-50s while probably being a newer piece. It's got Victorian picturesque uplift and height, but the details are classical. Multipurpose with storage for papers, and perhaps clothes and linens. Love the stair stepped quoins at the bottom of the unit and the exuberant rococo revival ebonized feet. Pretty AND solid!

 

This piece (with rather poor photos) is said to be a Maitland Smith piece and bears quite a few similarities. When you've a chance you might look for marks. (Maitland Smith is a modern company.)

https://shop.truetreasuresinc.com/c...s-1/products/maitland-smith-medium-wood-chest

 

Wow! That is pretty cool. I would think it’s in fairly good condition for its age then? It was really eye catching and honestly I thought it was priced well, but offered less and they accepted. We thought the top would be used for jewelry or similar items, but the top 3-4 drawers are too high to see into.

 

That does look very similar! I’ll check it out. Any specific places I could check other than the back. I’ve looked in all the drawers, pulled them out etc. It looks a little older than that, but looks like that company has been open for 30 years so I suppose it could have aged in that time. It does say they draw inspiration from the 18th, 19th, and 20th century’s so maybe that one you posted is modeled after this style? Is there any way to date this particular piece if no markings are found?

 

Here is one with a better pics.

https://www.lelandlittle.com/items/182761/maitland-smith-architectural-secretary/

 

Thank you for that!

 

Thomas, your GREAT and STUNNING images are showing a GORGEOUS piece!! I can't help on this, but I would listen to every word that @Ghopper1924 has to say!!! He's one of our RESIDENT experts!!!

 

Thank you! I don’t know anything about antique furniture, but some of the ways it looks like it was pieced together doesn’t look modern to me. I can not find any markings other than faint hand written letters or numbers on the inside of drawer panels. I was able to slightly pull the top piece out enough to look in the back and nothing there as well.

 

Just a thought, would the company be able to identify if it came from them or not?

 

likely yes.

 

Maitland Smith....quality newer furniture, who'da thunk it? It seems they've got a subtle aesthetic in which certain not-so-obvious Victorian picturesque aesthetic elements are married to 18th century classicism. Might even be worth having a piece or two in the house

 

Haha right? It certainly is a solid unique piece. I know I got some brownie points from the wife. It was her Valentine’s Day gift (and mine, but I won’t tell her that). I’m really impressed with the responses on this forum. I appreciate it. Are nails an accurate way to identify the relative time period? I am reading that older nails typically leave a black stain around a nail whereas a newer one leaves a brown/red rust due to the level of iron.

 

only , of the nails........as older nails could always be used on newer pieces,,,

metal will also age differently on Cape Cod,,,,,than say....Reno !

 

Yeah, that makes sense. I was just wondering as there are a couple of different types of nails used and some have blackened rust and not perfectly round.

 

What a beautiful piece!!!!

 

Thank you so much!

 

That is a wonderful find.