Posted 7 years ago
aarronh
(3 items)
Can anyone help me identify this dresser? What I'm really looking for, is what it looked like in it's original state. This isn't my favorite piece that I've done (it's definitely a laminated wood), but it will look significantly better restored, nonetheless. Thoughts? Thanks, all!
Please humor me for a moment. In pictures 3 & 4 is that the natural color of the wood or is there a finish? What does the inside wood of the drawer look like? Next lets have a peek at the casters. I can't see them well in the picture. Are they steel and brass? All steel? Wood roller and brass or steel fitting? If those are original casters they can give us an era even if the laminate was added later. What I am trying to do is connect the casters with a certain wood. Seeing the inside of the bare front panels would help a great deal. Also the drawer joinery where the sides join the face and back panels.
fhrjr2 - I can't figure out how to add more photos - so I put some here on the cloud... see if you can access these at the following link - I think I got photos of each of the things you asked for... thanks! https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B55m7BQw13wcLWp2cTRERXFEVFk
Yes, I can open and view the images, good job. I will give you my opinion and you can take it for what it is worth. I would suggest the primary wood is Butternut. I will tie that together in a minute. The piece has dust panels between the drawers which you only get in high end pieces now days. Years ago it was common. The dovetail joints and step down on the drawers is quite early but machine cut probably after 1900 but could be late 40's. The casters help tie everything else together. They are metal. During the war years companies had to give up metal casters, oak wood and metals were bought up by the government and butternut was used as a replacement. After the war butternut became a secondary wood especially in sofa frames. I stripped out a good many sofas just to get the butternut. Today butternut is hard to find. You will probably never know who made it but be satisfied that it was well made to last.
I found some writing on the back! Is this helpful? Thanks for all the info, sir! I updated one of the pics on this post