Veneer over solid wood apparently. Is it walnut veneer over maple?

It sure looks like maple. But the veneer is too dainty for walnut, to me anyway. Maybe mahogany? If the insides are actually that red color, then I'd guess mahogany and it was originally stained red to match the red mahogany stain. It's just so faded now...

I may go look at it and offer to buy it even though repairing that veneer is not something I could do.

It could easily be from before 1900 because the Doernbecher Furniture Company began in Tacoma, Washington. Then he moved it to Portland Oregon in 1899 and named his building the Doernbecher Manufacturing Company. So he was definitely in the furniture making business in Washington before 1900.

Thank you yes I do not even know what type wood the missing veneer is. Doesn't look like mahogany to me. Red on the inside looks like stain. I don't know woods and their grains well. But I did make something from mahogany back in high school woodshop almost 50 years ago. The grain has lots of straight lines in it.

https://ohsufoundation.org/stories/frank-doernbecher-the-gift-that-started-it-all/

Mahogany can be cut with a little swirl...look up "flame mahogany". Just the sort of thing for a pretty front.

I wonder if you could stain the naked part to about the right color and just let it be.

You're never going to match the veneer. My take is that it's not worth the effort of making it look nice. There's a lot of very nice "brown" furniture out there. Visit antique stores, estate sales and auctions. My experience is that very nice stuff can be bought for good prices at auctions.

I couldn't disagree more, it's not just an ugly piece of old "brown" furniture. The legs it's on make it look elegant.

This could clean up nicely. Except for the missing veneer. I could put some mahogany veneer on it and hide it as best at possible with some stain. Since it is apparently mahogany I think going over the whole thing with some reddish stain might be the thing to do I guess that would mean refinishing, taking finish off so new stain could be applied to wood veneer. Can't re-stain it without taking the old finish off.

It's true that it's not worth the effort if you're going to try to sell it, but if you want to use it, it's a lovely candidate.

Betcha it was red originally. It was the trendy thing to do with mahogany for a while.

If you re-veneer it, looks like you have to do all the drawers together with bookmatched pieces so the grain pattern continues across them. Could be a fun project.

Yes you're right it's definitely mahogany. When I look close I can see what I consider the distinctive lines.

Nice find and it is probably a very sturdy piece. As is, it is probably not very valuable, but, as you say the lines on it are great. Found this story on A T. Wait until you see the "after" photo. Painting it may make to more appealing to a wider group.

https://www.apartmenttherapy.com/brown-black-antique-buffet-redo-200-dollars-37064805

Objectively there isn't a good reason to spend a lot of money to refurbish it. As @Sigrid wrote there is a plethora of nice "brown" furniture that is in good shape and doesn't have large patches of missing veneer.

If you want to tackle this as a fun project go for it or if you are in desperate need of furniture and it is essentially free go for it. I gave away lots of vintage "brown" furniture when I remodeled because there was simply no market for it.

It is a "nice" piece of furniture and beauty is in the eye of the beholder but there really isn't anything exceptional about it. I furnished my place over the years with good "used" vintage furniture and inherited quite a bit from my grandmother and mother. I am not prejudiced against "brown" furniture but just realistic about its current value in the market - it is well made for the most part but there is loads available especially because Boomers are dying and down sizing and so there is a glut on the market.

I did keep a vintage bedroom suite and had it done by professionals. I kept it because I liked the style as much as any contemporary pieces I could have bought. Mine had zebrawood veneer which was damaged in some places. The cost to restore and refinish was as much if not more than if I purchased good quality new stuff.

That's nicely done.

If you have the skills to refurbish a piece to this level then absolutely go for it - or hone your skills on the piece as an interesting thing to do and a learning experience. People are absolutely repurposing relatively inexpensive not particularly valuable "brown" furniture in lots of interesting and creative ways.

As I posted I do have "refurbished" vintage pieces that I mixed in with newer pieces when I remodeled and redecorated. However, I don't have the skill set to do this and so I had it done by professionals and I paid a lot for their expertise.

Given that I don't have the ability to refurbish a vintage piece I wouldn't deliberately buy one that needed to be refurbished absent unusual situation.

Your post asked whether it was particularly "collectible" - which generally means having some kind of value. It doesn't and it would cost quite a bit to restore unless you had the skills and inclination to do it yourself.

I guess if you're going to paint it, it will be less work. So many of these pieces do get painted because the veneer has failed, and the combo of painted/not painted you showed can be a nice compromise. At least it's not white chalk paint! You can save the pretty carvings and legs and the top...

Check out videos of removing all the veneer, too.

It has several nice carving details. And the "stretcher" between the legs is not a straight stick. It has curves and a carving detail in the middle. Legs are turned and fluted.

I'll email what I consider a fair offer If rejected that will be the end of it.

I get the impression no-one here would pay what the full asking price is anyway. Asking price is higher than the supposed $100 the couple paid for the one that they redid and partially painted.

(Looks like if all the veneer was removed on this Doernbecher there'd be nice light maple.)

Small pieces of veneer are inexpensive. With a patch, the grain will not match but if the whole thing is given a reddish stain it may be good enough for me.

I offered $80 and the seller will think about it for a while.

I'll just pass on it.

I think you are wise to pass on it as the seller is delusional about the price.

My experience is that you might not even be able to donate an item like that because it wouldn't be salable at the charity store and it would cost them money to pick up and store.

If you are looking for nice "brown" furniture it is truly a buyer's market because there is so much available now. I gave away much nicer items in very good condition to my friend's brother just to get it out of the house.

Once a nice buffet but in its current condition would be a give-away in my area or pay someone to haul it away. I would not pay $80 for it based on the work entailed to make it usable.

Seller has it advertised for $150.

In response to my offer seller said this:

"ok will consider I wonder what they paid back when they got it as a wedding gift that plus dining room table maybe that much"

So this is typical. People want what they want. People who make an offer are looked at like "lowballers."

You can't by anything unless it's a must sell situation.

Here is another picture.

If they got it as a wedding gift, it cost them nothing. Also, it has major damage.

They can want what they want but will only get what someone is willing to pay.

I am not sure who is claiming it was a wedding gift or why.

How someone acquired something or what it cost them - whether it was new or used is completely irrelevant to how much someone is going to pay for it. Especially when the item is a damaged item of "brown" furniture that was mass produced - in other words the it is completely a buyer's market for items like this.

Works both ways - if I got something as a gift or bought a "bargain" at the flea market and found it on the sidewalk, I still have the *right* to sell it for fair market value and not base the value on my acquisition cost.

"I am not sure who is claiming it was a wedding gift or why."

It is the seller who is saying Grandma (and grandfather) got it as a wedding gift. And definitely does not want to sell it for less than it was new.. Sentimental value to the seller I guess.

@Michael Hilber Their rationale for demanding a certain price still makes no sense because whether it was a wedding gift or purchased has absolutely no relevance to the value of an item.

I inherited a lot of vintage "brown" furniture from my grandmother and mother and it actually did have "sentimental" value because I could remember it when it was actually in their homes and picture all of the family occasions spent with it in the room. However my feelings for the furniture had no impact on their monetary value. I had to get rid of them because I had no way to use them so keeping them was actually negatively impacting my life as they took up space and aesthetically weren't my taste.

As I posted, the amount these items were worth - and objectively mine were in mint condition - was pretty low so I just gave them to my friend's brother who needed furniture.

That company mass produced furniture and was in business between 1900 and 1942. That buffet is stereotypically 1930's style, a modified Jacobean revival. It is maple veneer over ash. It's not high end and never was.....and in the 1930's when that was sold you could buy a whole diningroom suite, table, chairs china cupboard and buffet for about $150.

I would not spend my time on that even if it were free! There is too much good furniture out there selling for very little $$.

Got curious about that and checked an inflation calculator, choosing 1935.

Looks like the going rate to furnish a contemporary dining room hasn't changed that much.

It is hard to look through private party antiques for sale because there is so much ugly junk grossly over-priced. But here's some others that aren't so bad I suppose.

$230 "Jacobean" a must sell according to the seller. Legs are heavy looking in my opinion, Maybe the style is supposed to look that way. I don't especially like it though.

$480 with wine grape carvings. From a winery according to the seller.

"Walnut German Antique Sideboard/Buffet for sale. Estate piece and in great condition $300" This is in Sausalito, near San Francisco

"Moving need to sell. $295 OBO"

"Antique 1920's Victorian Carved Sideboard - $2,495" Oakland California