Is this worth anything?

[Greg Crawford]

I got an old bed and armoir that some folks brought back from France 40 years ago. I don't know how old it was when they got it, but it just sat in their garage since they brought it back.

It appears to be 100% mahogany, I believe African. I've never seen Cuban, so I can't speak to that, but it seems too dark for Honduran. The finish on it has been mistreated, including some paint that appears to be an oil base, as latex remover won't touch it.

My question is does this have any value as an antique? I would prefer to keep it and put a finish on it that shows the beauty of the wood. Much of it is curly, and most has that iridescence that makes it look almost 3-D. However, changing an antique can kill it's value, so if it's best to leave it, I'll leave it.

I don't know if these two pictures of one of the bed sides are enough to tell the style. If it looks like a piece of interest, I can get pics of the head and foot boards and the armoir parts.


Thanks

[Jim Kountz]

Yeah maybe a couple more pics would tell us more. Right now we only know its a board!! LOL

[Frank Drew]

Greg,

I'm with Jim; maybe it's my old eyes, but I can't tell enough from your pictures to guess what the wood is (there's a light wood and a darker wood), but I wouldn't rule out any particular wood just based on color under finish. I know that 40 years ago we weren't bringing a lot of African "mahogany" into this country, but I don't know if that was also the case with France, or any other country in Europe.

[Greg Crawford]

First pic is the foot board, armoir doors and sides. Next is the "box spring", and then a close up of the metal mesh in the box spring. Fourth is the head board. Last one is a closer shot of the details of the sides. It reminds me of art deco in a way.

[Greg Crawford]

First of this is the back of the armoir. The entire inside was left un-finished. Saved the best for last. The last pic is the armoir doors.

Hope this is enough for someone to at least give me a hint as to how old this stuff is. I've never seen a box spring quite like this one.

[Frank Drew]

Greg,

Nothing in the pictures you've posted would rule out South or Central American Mahogany (including Cuban), but I still can't see the wood well enough to say definitely one way or the other; I'd say without a doubt, though, that the quilted figure wood in your photographs is much, much better looking than any African mahogany I've ever seen. Not to say that it doesn't come that pretty, just that I've never seen it.


Hope this is enough for someone to at least give me a hint as to how old this stuff is.It might be pretty hard to date this bed from your photos, and impossible to date the wood.

[Steve Rozmiarek]

Wow thats hard to id a piece by photos of the components! It looks sort of art deco? If so, there is a collector market most likely.

[Greg Crawford]

Maybe the wood is English walnut? The un-finished parts just really look like mahogany to me. However, the wood ID isn't my main curiosity, it's the age of the piece. I'm cleaning it and hopefully will have the bed put together today, so maybe fully assembled someone will recognize the style. I don't know if Europe followed American style periods or not, so it may be difficult unless someone from Europe is familiar with the styles/periods from there.

One real convenient part is the frame fits a European king size mattress, 60" wide by 75" long. Fortunately, that seems to be a popular RV bed size, so maybe I won't have to import a mattress!