Posted 10 years ago
trunk_junkie
(55 items)
I picked this up today and was happy to get it. The man said it had been in his family for years and was a very old antique. I'm guessing turn of the century (1900+) but, of course, am not sure.
There is a metal square cup attached to the inside of the door that says "Camphor" on it. I don't know if that is a company name or just the name of the wood. The camphor wood on the doors is a veneer I believe. I can see it was placed on wood slats (seen when you lay it down and look at the bottom of it) in sections. It has an amazing arrangement making it appear to look like a woman's waist with a belt around it.
It is very wobbly. It's falling apart and will need a lot of retrofitting, restabalizing, not to mention repair to the outside all around it before it can be a serviceable, functioning piece of furniture again.
I see the potential in it so I took the plunge and got it. To me, this is a tiny closet. There's not much width to accommodate today's hangers and the "shoe rack" at the bottom could only hold 2 pair of shoes at the most today.
It stands 65" tall, is 37" wide and 19" deep. I just used a little Old English polish on the upper corner of one of the front doors and the camphor wood is looking beautiful. I may have to re-think selling it. People must have been really small 100 years ago. (age is a guess, not fact).
If anyone knows anything about this type of wardrobe closet, please enlighten me.
As you can see in picture #3, there is some hardware that is missing from the doors of this wardrobe. I need suggestions on what kind of hardware I should look for. Do I concentrate on Asian influence or look for something else? I know it has to be big enough to reach the holes that are on the doors. Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.
Style of the wardrobe would put the date later than turn of the century. I would put this in the 1930s- 40s.
scott
Oh thank you Scott. The man I bought it from said it had been in his family for a "very long" time so, in his mind, 74 yrs would be a long time, if this piece was made in 1940. Thanks for properly dating it. I was just guessing. Hahaha
The wood grain looks stunning. I'd keep it:)
Haha, Vintage...I plan on doing just that...keeping it. Those front panels look like they were pieced together so the "waistline" is a deliberate act on the part of the maker.