Posted 5 years ago
Laceyfore
(2 items)
I bought a few antiques off someone whose mom liked to buy things at auction but had passed & he needed things cleared out. I redo & paint furniture for a hobby but would hate to destroy something so unique. I dont have a clue what this style is called or the era. I would love some input if anyone cannot lead me to answers.
Don't paint it please. Looking at the handles/drawer pulls and mirror, it appears to be a late 1920's - early 1930s piece and worth restoring. Top loos a bit warped/separated but that can be repaired -- not as difficult as you may think. Check inside top drawer(s) and on back for maker's mark. Same for the other Cabinet piece you have listed/shown. It would be a shame to destroy this piece with turcoise paint and white distress or gold highlites.
Hi,
As esegal has said the top is warped - not sure repairing that would be easy. (esegal renovates furniture, so maybe I'll be quiet about the top). I'm not sure if the right hand side, (looking at the photo), is in tact?
If you are doing this as a hobby and not to resell you are fine. However if you refurbish furniture with intentions of selling for a profit then you may want to think twice.
fhrjr2 has a good point. Depending on how much time you have and resources, the warped top isn't that hard to repair from looking at the picture. It looks like a 2nd quarter 20th century piece (probably late 20s at best, but likely mid to late 30s-40s). So not exactly a high value piece just yet (depending on your market for resale. Anyway, That being said, you should be able to remove the top by taking first removing the drawers and mirror to get those out of your way. Remove the slotted screws (there shouldn't be phillips head screws they weren't used until after WWII (late 40s /early 50s) should be along the front, sides and along the back of top. You may have to gently pry any small finishing nails or brads or trim and it should come off. Warping is caused by an imbalance of moisture in the wood. Usually because one side is finished and sealed and another isn't. Wood is porous so the unfinished side absorbs moisture and swells over time. The trick now is to even it out!
Once you remove the top piece, sand both sides clean and bare. There's likely a veneer on the top, be careful not to destroy it. If the veneer is already damaged, then you can remove it to the bare wood base and see what was used under it. It may be a decent hard wood with a nice grain pattern that can be finished sanded later and stained to match the rest of the piece when we're done.
Once the top piece is sanded, you'll need get some old towels, water, a hard surface and weights (cinder blocks, bricks, whatever is heavy). Soak the towels thoroughly in the water and wring out but make sure they're still soaked but not dripping wet. wrap these towels around the wood and place it on the hard surface (like the concrete floor of a garage) and then place the weights on it. Leave it for a day and check it. Make sure you have the bowed ) or arced side up and the weight is pressing it down toward the floor/hard surface. You'll be surprised how ell this works. It just takers a little work and some patience. You my not get it 100% the first time, so you may have to re-wet the towels and give it a second treatment and another day. After that you have what you have and then let it dry for a day at room temp (68 to 72 degrees F) for best results. The sooner you seal both sides of the would piece the better. This will prevent it from warping again.
If this seems like too much, I understand. It's not expensive to do yourself. Towels and water are cheap, you should already have them. Most restorers don't share simple fixes and charge $$$$ for services you can do yourself. especially if it's something you want to keep or sell and have a small margin.
Laceyfore, you can email me at elliotsegal@att.net if I can be of any further assistance with projects. I've connected with some great collectors on CW that have helped me with their expertise on unfamiliar subjects. I'm starting to finally post more of my things. My wife and I have a fairly eclectic collection of electric trains, wind-uip tin toys, antique furniture, vending machines, architectural antiques, kitchen ware, glassware, trunks, cabinets, pachinko and pinball machines, fans, lanterns, etc.