Need assistance with old buffet/chest

8 years ago

Hi All,

Husband bought this buffet/chest from a 2nd hand store recently.

Details I know from the store owner is that this buffet/chest dates from 1840s to 1860s. It was part of a two piece set. Other half of set was sold separately before so I did not see it myself. Prior buffet owner was a serious antique collector and lives in the historical district of Carson City, NV in a house that also dates from 1840s. That's really all I know about this piece. Not much.

I am wondering if, by seeing some photos I've taken of this buffet/chest you might be able to tell me a little more info. Such as likely age of the piece, is it valuable, any way to tell where it might be from (part of the country), is it even real, is it repaired piece by piece over the years with scrap pieces? I'm not experienced with pieces this old. Guests will be asking questions about this piece and I would to be able to answer inquiries as accurately as possible.

We are planning to use it in our kitchen/dining area since we are cabinet poor and sorely need a cabinet and drawer to use for daily use item storage.

Front of chest

Top of chest

Drawer fronts

Inside of top drawer

Inside of other top drawer

Side of drawer

Side of other drawer

Inside of lower door

Inside of other door

(the towels on the right of photo I have there to protect the shelf from my cast iron pots)

Side of chest

I have a photo of the back of the chest that I will post below this as this post is currently full and not accepting more photos.

Thank you in advance if you have info to pass along!

Featured Answer

lindac92

8 years ago

It's a wonderful old Eastlake era oak buffet with Knapp or pin and cove dovetailing, which puts it firmly in the era between say 1880 to 1900.
That backsplash thing on top was never meant to be there....remove it...it looks very strange....and it spoils a very lovely piece.
It can be no earlier than 1867 because that dovetail was not made before that...it was the first of the machine made dovetails making the manufacture of drawers much faster and cheaper than hand made dovetails. and it came into wide use about 1875 or later.
It's a great piece in amazing condition ( but for that very out of place backsplash!) and it appears to have all the original hardware!

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Comments (7)

SEA SEA
Original Author
8 years ago

Two photos of the back of chest.
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colleenoz
8 years ago
Personally, even though it's not original to the piece, I kind of like the backsplash :-)
SEA SEA thanked colleenoz
lovemrmewey
8 years ago
Have no knowledge to share but I love it!
SEA SEA thanked lovemrmewey
User
8 years ago
What Linda said ... that round dovetailing had a very short time of use.

The backsplash is too narrow to be original, and is from a later piece. The way it is held on is very recent - the wood hasn't aged much at all.
SEA SEA thanked User
SEA SEA
Original Author
8 years ago
Thank you everyone for taking the time to think on the buffet and write in. I appreciate it very much.

I love this piece so much. As the days pass since we acquired it, I enjoy it more and more. I've not had a nice piece of furniture like this before. It's such a nice feeling to look at it and use it. : )

Linda, thanks for the observations. I had asked if it was even real because the backsplash was throwing me off. It doesn't seem to match the rest of the workmanship and it's not the same size as the buffet top, but the color matches. Perhaps was re-stained when the backsplash was attached. I thought it strange that it would not be the same length as the buffet top as well. It didn't occur to me that it was a later add-on. Also, the drawer pulls seemed to me to be odd. But, I really don't know anything about older furniture pieces, so I thought I would ask the experts.

How interesting about the machine dovetailing! That was another thing throwing me off. I have seen hand made dovetailing on TV before and these drawer sides looked different from I've seen. Thank you for explaining this.

I'm glad you think it's a nice piece too! The fact that it seems to be in pretty good condition was throwing me off as well! I figured that if it was as old as the store owner said it was, wouldn't it be in worse condition? It seems this buffet has been well taken care of. We'll take good care of it too.

Have a wonderful day.
SEA SEA
Original Author
8 years ago
Had a thought...now that I know the backsplash is not meant to be there, all my eye can see is how the backsplash looks like a twin size bed headboard cut to size and attached to the buffet! Hahaha! I bet that's what the backsplash is. Hahaha. I still love it, headboard and all. <3