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Antiques! => Antique Questions Forum => Topic started by: krickard on September 17, 2011, 05:24:35 PM
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Hi, I just bought this old desk at a garage sale, my husband wants to refinish it. I know it's made of walnut but that's about it. Can anyone give me any info on this piece?
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Nice little item , krickard .
Looks like a late 19th century French-made unit , to me .
I'd just give it a coat of 'food-grade' mineral oil & a good wipe-down afterwards , prior to deciding to refinish your item ....
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Wow!! Nice piece... I would be careful about refinishing as well. A good clean and a bit of oil as Fancy suggested may do the trick. Under the dust, the wood is lovely!! Will try to look later today when I have more time. Can we get some pics of the drawer construction? Specifically the corners (showing dovetails)...
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You guys are the best. The images below are of the drawer construction and hardware. As you can see, the drawer front is attached using some kind of through-tenon - I have never seen this before. I expected dovetails as well. The back is attached via a dado.
Any further thoughts would be GREATLY appreciated!
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Looks like Pin and Cove which is helpful in dating. Personally, I think they are the prettiest of the dovetails ;)
From: http://www.scrgeek.com/woodwork/aboutDovetails.html
One of those styles that no longer sees a lot of favor is the pin and cove dovetail. It's the second one from the left up above. Around 1850, when America (and Europe) began to mechanize, master woodworkers were falling from grace rather quickly; there simply weren't enough of them to keep up with the demand for furniture. An American invention, and North American manufacturing's answer, was the pin and cove, a mechanized method which could be cut more quickly from a pattern by someone with a lower level of skill. Not actually dovetails, pin and cove only lasted about 25 years or so... roughly 1870 to 1895. By then, "router" improvements and assembly line interchangeable drawer parts were cranking out picture perfect machined dovetails, and were firmly entrenched in the furniture industry. The whole Arts and Crafts movement was about the displaced master woodworkers taking back their craft from the machine. Still, pin and cove has a certain historical "charm" if you will, and it's a great way to date some late Victorian and Eastlake furniture.
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Thank you Oceans - great info!
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No problem... My pleasure actually. I love it! Hopefully someone can give some suggestions on stabilizing the veneer. Post more pics when the hubby gets it cleaned up.
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Can't be of any help but that is gorgeous!