Help Date this antique

[Dan Mages]

Are there any furniture sleuths here looking for a challenge? I picked this up at the flea market this morning for 200 Swiss Francs. I am trying to get an idea of approximatey when this was made. Here are a few clues from the piece.

No visible screws
Even dovetails on the top drawer
Brass on the locks is smooth
No screws present
All wood, No plywood or pressboard
Glass is smooth (maybe not original)

My guess is late 19th or early 20th century. Any thoughts? Are there other pictures that will help date it?

Dan

[Alan Caro]

Dan Mages,

This is an odd one and I can't say anything definite. I've never seen that kind of external cabriole leg and couldn't find anything very much like it. My poor quality guess is that it's about 1900-1910. Possibly German, possibly English Walnut.

However, here is another surprising sight: a Victorian curio cabinet just casually walking down the street in Connecticut:

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How often does old furniture take walks?

Alan Caro

[Dan Mages]

Maybe the curio wanted to cross the road... To see what is in the other side?

[Jamie Buxton]

What are the hinges? I don't see any knuckles.

And, just out of curiosity, how is the glass held into the door? Nails through stop molding on the back side?

[Dan Mages]

What are the hinges? I don't see any knuckles.

And, just out of curiosity, how is the glass held into the door? Nails through stop molding on the back side?

The cabinet uses knife hinges. And yes, there is a curved stop molding on the inside.

[John Stankus]

Maybe the curio wanted to cross the road... To see what is in the other side?

Perhaps because it was curio-us :rolleyes::p

[Adam Herman]

marble top? any makers marks? is the back solid and ship lap? is the back/inside machine smooth or does it look a bit rough? what do the nails and screws look like?

[Mel Fulks]

I like it, eccentric but handsome. Has some unusual details. But it's the rounded glass that dates it. I think you are close.

[Dan Mages]

marble top? any makers marks? is the back solid and ship lap? is the back/inside machine smooth or does it look a bit rough? what do the nails and screws look like?

Here are a couple more pictures. The marble top has two holes in it... I have no idea why. The back and inside have some texture to them. The nails are pretty well hidden. There are no screws visible on the piece.

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[Mel Fulks]

The holes were for a mirror,and sometimes they had a couple of small drawers at the base.

[Dan Mages]

One more picture from the bottom to show the joinery of the back leg.

394752

[Dan Mages]

The holes were for a mirror,and sometimes they had a couple of small drawers at the base.

Thanks! This one has a large drawer at the top.

[Alan Caro]

Dan Mages,

The marble top and the two holes inspire me to make another poor quality guess that this piece was a wash stand and the holes were to locate a large porcelain wash basin that's been separated or broken. The "K" written on the back looks to be very Germanic.

In some ways, it's refined- the double curved front and rounded windows, and elsewhere it's slightly crude- perhaps a local, country maker.

It's eccentric enough that the more I look at it the more I like it. The thing to do it to mount a big neon sign in the two holes that says "DISCO".

Alan Caro

[Dan Mages]

Dan Mages,

The marble top and the two holes inspire me to make another poor quality guess that this piece was a wash stand and the holes were to locate a large porcelain wash basin that's been separated or broken. The "K" written on the back looks to be very Germanic.

In some ways, it's refined- the double curved front and rounded windows, and elsewhere it's slightly crude- perhaps a local, country maker.

It's eccentric enough that the more I look at it the more I like it. The thing to do it to mount a big neon sign in the two holes that says "DISCO".

Alan Caro


It is 130cm tall 90cm wide.... definitely not a wash basin.