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melanieguerrette

Can anyone help?

melanieguerrette
10 years ago
Can anyone tell me anything about this vanity? It is solid wood, not veneer. It doesn't have dovetail joints, which I think is an indication of age. It sits on metal castors and the handles are wood as well. I couldn't find any stamps or markers indicating a maker. It is missing the mirror but I do plan on replacing it. Any help or ideas would be awesome!!!

Comments (38)

  • melanieguerrette
    Original Author
    10 years ago
    Anyone??
  • pegonia1
    10 years ago
    My goodness, patience!!!!!
  • apple_pie_order
    10 years ago
    It's from the 1930's. A vanity like this may have been part of a set. Do you have a photo of the drawer joining at the front? Sometimes the drawers are stamped inside or on the underside.

    What geographical location is it in?
  • melanieguerrette
    Original Author
    10 years ago
    I am in Alberta, Canada. Here is a pic of the drawer joining. Thanks for your help!
  • melanieguerrette
    Original Author
    10 years ago
    One more pic, looking down at the drawer
  • melanieguerrette
    Original Author
    10 years ago
    I guess the next logical question would be how do I make it look good again?? :)
  • PRO
    Someone's in the Kitchen, Inc.
    10 years ago
    Hi Melanie - Best I can tell from your photos, looks like birch wood, with likely poplar secondary wood on back, etc. ...inlaid walnut handles. I'd say Art Deco style from thirties or forties. I agree with apple pie that this vanity cabinet was probably part of a bedroom set including a couple of dressers and head-foot boards.

    I'd check on possible antique value before working on the finish. If you do proceed to try to clean up the finish, the varnish is old enough that a finish dissolver might do a nice job here - leaving much of the original varnish and patina intact. -- rather than a varnish stripper.

    Have fun! Mark
  • Geneviève
    10 years ago
    last modified: 10 years ago
    The casters must have be added later on to this cabinet, I think that those drawers joints are called duck tailed, it looks like a piece from the 1930s-40s ,let me see if I find anything on it .
    http://www.rubylane.com/item/482733-KYx2e2909/American-Vanity-Dresser-Art-Deco
    http://fortmcmurray.canadianlisted.com/furniture/1930s-art-deco-walnut-bedroom-suite_867911.html
  • Lainey Stern
    10 years ago
    I agree the 1930 s which is not antique in this condition in a shop maybe $75-100 so don't be afraid to paint or do what you want to it will be great
  • melanieguerrette
    Original Author
    10 years ago
    Thanks so much for the info! I've been getting varying dates... 30's, 40's and 50's... So there may
    be a possibility that it might have some value? I picked it up
    today for $30!
  • melanieguerrette
    Original Author
    10 years ago
    Thanks favoritegram! I couldn't decide whether to stain or paint!!
  • Laura L
    10 years ago
    Use Annie Sloan chalk paint and finish wax. Check out her website or FB page. You can make this a magnificent piece for your home!
  • PRO
    sstarr93
    10 years ago
    Satinwood vanity, late 1930s early 1940s I'd say. I had a set rather like this in my bedroom growing up, without the tracery. You should have it restored.
  • PRO
    Suzette Sherman Design
    10 years ago
    Nice detailing and fun handles. Looks like it needs a lot of work to bring it up to par. Nice to save a worthy piece of furniture.
  • melanieguerrette
    Original Author
    10 years ago
    I talked to a guy today who refinished furniture. He said it would be $300 plus $1 per inch for a beveled mirror. Sound about right?
  • PRO
    sstarr93
    10 years ago
    What's he going to do to it?
  • melanieguerrette
    Original Author
    10 years ago
    Well he said "finish it"... Whatever that means.
  • Laura L
    10 years ago
    In lieu of a mirror you could do a fabric board for photos, or tokens. You could also do chicken wire and keep jewelry there. Because you have to do something, you can think outside the traditional options! Here is a piece I recently completed.
  • PRO
    sstarr93
    10 years ago
    ok. He should be sanding it, using a very minimal amount of filler, and re-varnishing it. He should NOT be stripping it or staining it.
  • melanieguerrette
    Original Author
    10 years ago
    Lawx, that's gorgeous!!! Did you keep it for yourself?
  • melanieguerrette
    Original Author
    10 years ago
    Sstar, if he stained it would that detract form any value it may have?
  • Laura L
    10 years ago
    Thank you...I have no room for it so it will go to a store of a friend who is selling pieces I redo.
  • Geneviève
    10 years ago
    Looking at those handles it looks like this piece belonged to someone who was a Religious person, the cross symbol is proof .
  • melanieguerrette
    Original Author
    10 years ago
    Lawx, that's exactly what I was planning on doing with this piece! Except I don't have a friend with a store
  • melanieguerrette
    Original Author
    10 years ago
    That's actually just a reflection, a weird one! Creeeeepy.
  • PRO
    sstarr93
    10 years ago
    Right, the blond natural finish was prized at the time.
  • Geneviève
    10 years ago
    Really! wow it sure looks like a cross from here , its a sign of good omen then :)
  • melanieguerrette
    Original Author
    10 years ago
    Well now I'm really torn... Paint it and sell it, or have it restored and keep it?!
  • PRO
    sstarr93
    10 years ago
    Painted, it will have very little value.
  • Geneviève
    10 years ago
    last modified: 10 years ago
    Once you paint it it will loose its value ,I'm saying this because that 's what an Antique dealer would say . you will also loose the design on it if you paint it . If someone is able to refinish this piece lightly keeping the colour and design intact and replacing the missing mirror then it could have a decent resale value ,but it will never be the original . So the choice is yours , try to clean it up with lemon oil and look at it from another angle ,don't rush into it .
  • PRO
    sstarr93
    10 years ago
    I've seen a number of these threads, and in every case, the piece has gotten painted. MCM, antique, vintage, whatever. It's unfortunate, but what happens is that the painting idea gets encouragement. The painted piece above was never a valuable piece, and so painting makes little difference. This deco piece however, is nicer.
  • Laura L
    10 years ago
    It's LAWX, I updated my profile at last! I agree with Genevieve, it takes me quite a while to decide which way I want to go on a piece, although I've not had to ponder anything that may be of substantial value.
  • melanieguerrette
    Original Author
    10 years ago
    Thanks for all the info lefty, I actually have the original bench as well, I just didn't take a pic. I'll go to Rona or Home Depot tomorrow and see what I come up with! I really do love it and it may break my heart to paint!
  • Geneviève
    10 years ago
    here is something to read before bedtime.

    http://antiques.about.com/od/furniture/a/aa062905.htm
  • nwduck
    10 years ago
    Melanie: I think Lefty is absolutely correct. My grandmother and great aunts had pieces just like this....in the small homes their husbands built after they moved west off their Iowa farms. The joint you showed is a rather destructed dovetail joint. The handles may indeed be Bakelite. While not horribly valuable, perhaps, if you can restore it to the blond look, carefully clean the handles (you might read up on Bakelite) and put a regular mirror in the back, it has a sort of warm home-like charm to me that many more valuable antiques do not. Not a bad find for $30!
  • apple_pie_order
    10 years ago
    Thanks for posting the photos of the joints. The joinery was typical of inexpensive pieces.

    You can read up on identifying the finish. It could be shellac-based. Developing skill at padding with shellac would be good for someone who enjoys refinishing. It's a skill a lot of antique dealers develop because it enables them to make careful and suitable light repairs to old finishes. The results are often quite lovely.

    Here's a good article: http://www.homesteadfinishingproducts.com/htdocs/padshellac2.htm