Any idea on age and origin ?

[jteneyck]

A friend asked if I had any idea how old these might be and where they were made. Any ideas?

[Stwood_]

All veneer over solid wood?

I'd say built in the states, around the early 1900's

[jteneyck]

All I have is the photos. The first one looks like a mix of solid wood and veneer over most likely solid wood. The radiused round over cut on the inside of the top frame suggests it was done with a shaper. I'd guess around 1900, too, but don't really have any solid info to go on. Sort of looks English to me, but could easily have been US origin, too. The second piece looks to be all solid wood and unusual with the carved door panels and sparse finish. But I got nothing solid.

John

[Foggy]

Can't tell from pictures. Could be contact paper over Chinese pressed wood made last year. Could be 200 year old heirloom. Have to see how constructed, joints, type of wood and secondary wood etc.

[BobW]

The first one is Eastlake style from the Victorian era.  It was popular 1870-1890.  Origin is probably English.  Not too sure about the second one...could be the same but looks later.

[handi]

From the 1800s into the early 1900s, there were MANY US factories producing pieces that look very similar. Grand Rapids Michigan was one hotspot for those factories as were other North Central cities. 

You can find lots of reprints of catalogs from these companies. Names like “Come-Packt”, ”Warmans” and thousands of others. I have a book just on those factories in Indiana!

Tell your friend to remove the drawers and look for any sort of label or branding. If not on the drawer boxes, the back or bottom often carry paper labels. If they can find a brand name, the internet can dig up a lot of info. 

[jteneyck]

Thanks very much for all your comments. I passed along the request to search for a label or stamp and will report back if he finds any helpful info.

John

[Bibliophile 13]

No way to tell from those photos alone. If I had to guess, I'd say mid-20th century for the piece on the left--1950s or 1960s, perhaps. The one on the right could be 1920s or 1970s... those Asian-inspired styles came in and out a couple times during the last century. Just based on the visible condition of each piece, I'm guessing neither one is very old.

To start with, pull out those drawers to find out. Drawer construction can tell you a lot about the age of a piece. Then look at the insides and backs of the pieces.

Older pieces (pre-20th century) MAY have hand-cut dovetails, cut nails or wrought nails (as opposed to wire nails), solid-wood backs and drawer bottoms (as opposed to plywood backs and bottoms)... the list goes on. But those are some of the more obvious signs to look for.

[Arlin Eastman]

John

A lot of the time there is info on the back or bottom of the unit or take out the bottom drawer and look on the bottom of the cabinet which the drawer covers up.  Then take some of those pictures for a lot more info.

Who ever sent you those photos is not helping you or anyone else very much at all and hate to have anyone say something and they take it as gospel.

O and I also forgot to burn the balls for the vise handle just blew out of my mind even after I read it.  Sorry