What era/age is this piece?:

What era/age is this piece?: I bought it off Craigslist and have been fixing it up. Previous owner said she bought it at an antique shop and she painted it a white shabby chic. I have taken it back down to bare wood. It appears it was originally stained a darker color. It is all white oak with use of poplar in the interior. All drawers are dovetailed. Nails and some use of glue are used for construction. It has all skeleton key locks. It came with a mirror that rests on the top of the piece (I likely won't use it). The middle drawer is actually complicated in that the face sits at a 5 degree angel and the entire drawer front is slightly bowed. With the carvings and examples like the drawer just described, it took some work/skill to build... but then their is the use of glue that may indicate it was built later or more production-like. Any help is appreciated.

 

Id guess 1870s-1900 give or take. Hats off to what I can only assume is a hellish refinishing job !

 

Nice piece. You can only hope that the paint is a thin coat of water base, and will strip easier then the bullet proof oil paints of decades ago which could be brutal to remove. A labor of love, but worth it.... good luck !

 

Would estimate 1890-1910. Very high quality oak construction inspired by R.J. Horner of New York or Karpen of Chicago. There were others that were just about as good. Style is Renaissance Revival.

Thanks so much for rescuing this piece from the ill-informed actions of the previous owner. If you don't use the mirror at least store it safely for the next person.

 

Agree re rescue. (White shabby chic!) I hope you'll be kind enough to post photographs of your work when finished for us all to see.

Debora

 

Thanks for the info folks. I guess I was bit thrown by the use of glue on this piece. This made me think it was more modern. Here is a pic as I bought it (for Debora's compare). The piece had split wood in the drawers and structurally that caused other parts to be out of alignment as well. Work is still in progress. Another question: I want to keep it the natural oak color... suggestions as to finish to apply?

 

Get a medium to dark oak stain (there was no honey oak in the 1890s).