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Antiques! => Antique Questions Forum => Topic started by: mariok54 on October 14, 2010, 10:41:33 AM
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Hi,
just thought that I'd share this little tale with you and also pick your brains.
A few months back my partner returned home with this corner cabinet wrapped up in half a dozen bin liners.... allegedly to stop the worms from escaping!!
She had been visiting 'acquaintances' who has just moved into a 'new' house. There were a few bits of furniture left behind, one being the cabinet, which had been taken down and stored in the garage because it was infested with woodworm. They passed it onto us because they knew we lived in an old house.
My first reaction when she told.me was obviously 'Thanks, but get it out of the house!!!'
When we unwrapped it in the garden I had to laugh. What they took for woodworm holes (literally thousands of 'em) were in fact hand tooled decoration around the figures. You probably can't make them out from my pics. Did we tell them? What do you think, after all, they're only acquaintances!
What puzzles me is the design, the date is evident, as it's there for all to see, but the style doesn't look very English. Anyone any ideas?
Thanks
Mario
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Sorry about the duplicate post, the first didn't seem to want to load, so I did a fresh one taking one photo off, ended up with two posts! :-[
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I can tell you one thing about it for sure. The animal pair shown on the front are of a mythical creature called the hippocampus. Famed carousel carver Denzel made what I think is the most beautiful portrayal of this creature ever:
(http://www.dentzeldesigns.com/Sculpture/Images/hippo.jpg)
These were the horses of Poseidon. There's some good info and photos here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hippocamp (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hippocamp)
Example from ancient Roman mosaic:
(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/dc/Roman_Baths%2C_Bath_-_Sea_Horse_Mosaic.jpg/237px-Roman_Baths%2C_Bath_-_Sea_Horse_Mosaic.jpg)
and the Trevi fountain in Rome:
(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/96/Piazza_di_trevi_-_fontana_di_trevi_hippocampus_crop.jpg/267px-Piazza_di_trevi_-_fontana_di_trevi_hippocampus_crop.jpg)
You have a BEAUTIFUL, BEAUTIFUL piece there. I had to wipe the drool off my keyboard. Love the way the top looks like your little cabinet is flexing its muscles!
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Hi Tales,
Thanks for that.. It is beautiful and it beggars belief that anyone could make such a fundamental error... But you won't hear me complain.
I hear that you can buy pelican bibs on Ebay, save your keyboard
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Woodworm? There is quite a bit of stippling in the background around the carvings. Amazing that someone could mistake that for woodworm.
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Especially since it only occurs in the background, LOL... They would have to be choosey woodworms!
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Hmm.. What was this used for? My first thought was spice cabinet but those have drawers (which I would assume you would have mentioned)
Looks like it was lockable?
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Hi Oceans,
It is lockable, with the original key and still turning smoothly. There is a single shelf inside, but this is a later replacement/addition, probably c 50 years ago.
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Construction photos showing joins, nails, dovetailing etc. would help a lot to be able to date it.
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<must poke fun at tales...>
The date on the front is helpful too.... hehehehehe.... :D
(says the person who googled wall cabinet right after asking what it was and found out indeed it was a wall cabinet! lol)
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Hi Oceans,
I'm glad that you pointed that out ... I'm too much of a gent :)
It is quite a big beast, c 37" long ... and although I initially didn't think it was English, the acorns in the design could suggest that it is... but I'm no expert.
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LOL! I was so enamored with the hippocampii (not sure how to correctly pluralize these!) that I completely overlooked the 1899 staring me in the face!!!
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Y'know, I'm wondering if this could be a pistol safe. Makes sense from a functional standpoint- Solid, locking, hangs on the wall out of reach of kids but still looks nice, and it is not unlike some of the Victorian ones that come up on when you google antique pistol safe. It's just a guess on my part.
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Hi Tales,
The only problem is that I'm in England, and I'm not sure whether there would be many pistol safes around then ...
Perhaps it was for keeping the arsenic safe, and out of reach of the children... or maybe the chocolate biscuits?
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I tried searching the significance of acorns, oak leaves, and hippocampus as a grouping and didn't come up with much (altho my Google skills can be questionable). I did come up with this. It's a mirror, thought to English, hanging in a historical New England home... The mirror probably dates somewhere around 1808 after the owner moved in... I know this is much earlier but..
"The mirror form was adapted to serve as a base for the plethora of neoclassical decorative elements popular in the early nineteenth century and features acanthus leaves, grapes, balls, oak-and-acorn clusters, and a hippocampus."
Pic is at the bottom of the page
http://www.historicnewengland.org/historic-properties/homes/rundlet-may-house/collections-on-display
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Beautiful old Medicine or liquor cabinet.
Are there any stain marks on the lower inside? (If this hasn't been restored)
Pics of the joints/sides/back sides/hardware will help in determining if in fact it is this old.
Thank the Lord for people who know just a little to be dangerous!!! Their loss....your gain!
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Hi KC... Thank the Lord Indeedy!
I'll try to take some more pics tomorrow and post them.
Interesting piece of research by Oceans, more than I could find when I Googled
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Sorry about the pics, they were taken with a flash. The hardware looks all very original, very flush and expertly recessed. The photo is of the back of the door which is also very attractively, though plainly, carved , possibly another sign of reasonable quality.
Other than the replacement shelves (2 not 1) there is no sign of any restoration, and although in the flashlight the shelves look bright spankers I would say that they do have some age to them, at least 40 - 50 years. I've mounted it temporarily, hence the new screws.
I'm fairly confident, as I can be, about its age, it's just the decoration on the door that puzzles me. I've seen a lot of corner cupboards over the years, both Victorian and Edwardian, but nothing as ornate as this. It's ornateness is reminiscent of something from the East (Near, Middle, Far) but the design certainly isn't.
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I think adding a date so prominantly would be significant. The American Bicentential comes to mind. It seems as if everything had a date displayed on it. Even Y2K to some extent. I looked at a timeline of British history in 1899 but didn't see anything of significance (although you would know better). Was having a date carved into a piece of furniture popular?
My next thought was a wedding gift.
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I would look at different fraternal groups in England to see if the carving has any similarities. I think the staff the two opposing hippocampi (?) are holding may have some meaning. 1899 may have been the year the owner joined, was elected, or something and this cabinet held whatever ritual items were used in meetings? Oak leaves and acorns are a pretty standard design for carvings but the hippocampus and staff are not.
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I would guess some maritime significance.
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Hi Wayward ... You're not wrong when you say that Hippocampi (?) aren't standard ... I can find virtually nothing ...
The nearest that I've come to anything looking like it is here...
http://www.sellingantiques.co.uk/antiquedetail.asp?autonumber=78827
The profusion of detail and similar style, although the subject is different :(
and
http://cgi.ebay.com/Antique-Furniture-Victorian-Oak-Hanging-Corner-Cupboard-/370289318139#ht_3279wt_932
If our's is worth anywhere near that second one!!!!!!! :D
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Is the carving underneath the "1899" an anchor? That would synch the Maritime meaning... As for the oak leaves, acorns, and grapes/grape vines, they have shown up as groupings in early Ireland - one reference to "Down Abbey" that I found. Google Heraldry and you can find some interesting meanings as individual elements. I suppose it's a matter of how much thought went into the carving - makes a nice story though. Even the woodworm ;) could mean something...
Not really a coat of arms but symbolism doesn't change drastically...
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Hi Oceans,
I see what you mean, it does look like an anchor in the photo, but it is in fact a bud or a leaf (I think). The Heraldry tip took me on a magical tour, you find them embracing all sorts of things including serpents, but nothing quite like that staff/standard.. Ah well.
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From face on pic it looks like flat mount...but it appears that it is a corner mount cabinet?
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Morning KC, yes, it is a corner cabinet.
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These were also called curio cabinets....but I tend to believe yours was more for, say for instance, a parlor.
Notice the round stain in the bottom. Bottle size? In the older days....there were lots of concoctions good for the body (or so they say) that wasn't liquor....
Notice the screws on the hinge. The grooves on the bottom seem centered....but the top they are off. So, appear older.
I really like this piece.
Where are you located? Country? State? That may have some significance.
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Hi KC,
I didn't spot the round stain, most definitely bottle sized.. maybe a 25 year old single malt... ? So useful having a key to the cabinet!