Posted 7 years ago
dennyg
(1 item)
Just bought these at estate sale, and loved them. Each drawer is actually a "TV" tray with spring loaded hinges and legs. Cabinets are 23 (w) x 16 (d) x 27 (h), and each tray is 21 (w) x 13 (d) x 18 (h) when open. Each cabinet is marked "448" on underside, but no other marks. Anyone out there with any other info? I really like these. Thanks in advance for any input.
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I have the exact cabinet, in mahogany with the exception that mine has a marble top. It was made in the Great Lakes area of the US, in a shop that was contracted to make the Duncan Phyfe or Hepplewhite signature style, though I don't know the actual manufacturer because contract cabinet makers in that area of the US have long since gone out of business. It appears your cabinets are also made of mahogany, but they could be maple or birch as well, but I can't see enough of the detail in the wood from your pictures.
These are pretty rare, and I believe the reason they are is due to when they were made, and the actual purpose of the trays. The rollers on the cabinet defines it as a piece of furniture that needs to be easily moved on a wood floor, as opposed to carpeted areas. This has led me to believe they are actually designed to be "radio" trays, instead of a TV tray, and manufactured in the 1930s to early 1940s. I took pictures of my cabinet to an antique dealer near me, and she had never seen an example herself, but was confident they are Pre-WWII based on the type of roller on each leg. She pointed out that the reason so few pieces of furniture with these style legs remain in current inventories is because they were not compatible with use after wall to wall carpets became fairly common in the 1960's, as the roller either caused enough stress to weaken or break off the roller or leg, or were impossible to roll across carpet after they had been setting in one place for any length of time, and the furniture was discarded for the modern TV tray holder, which remained in one place near the family TV. There are examples of TV tray holders from the 1960s that are also cabinets, but the legs are much more substantial, as they are not designed to be mobile.
I researched this style cabinet years ago, and only found one example of this cabinet, painted black in the Art Deco style that was popular post WWII, with oriental themed tray pulls, which sold at auction in NYC for $1500. I believe the tray pulls on this auction piece were not original, but replaced the original tray pulls when the owner was updating the look of the cabinet to reflect trends after WWII. As my cabinet has a marble top, I believe it was ordered with this top by the original purchaser because they intended to set a tea pitcher or coffee carafe on their cabinet while it was in use during mealtime.
I have had a number of people express interest in buying my cabinet, but the most I have ever been offered is $500, though I believe this person was intending to resell the cabinet, so I believe it is worth more than his offer. The fact that you have TWO of these cabinets, as a set, is very unusual, and would indicate they were originally owned by a fairly affluent family who could afford to have more than one cabinet, to accommodate listening to radios in different rooms during meals.
Hope this information has been of some help.
Thanks so much for the information, long time coming from this website. I still use both of these items, and have them stacked back-to-back for access to the trays. Ultimately, I will sell them but for now they are between our TV chairs with lamps and coasters on top.