The Puzzle Of The Mystery Chest

It's a beautiful day here in northern New Jersey, sunny and not too cold.

Beautiful -- if you don't mind wind that whips the shingles off the roof of That Old House,

and flings the neighbors' Christmas tree from the curb in front of their house,

across the cul-de-sac, and halfway down our driveway to the hedges.

See the tree?  It held up remarkably well for rolling so far; the tinsel is still on it!

On this gorgeous day, I took in some gorgeous scenery.

I drove north, into upstate New York near West Point, to pick up a couple of tables from a Craigslist

listing.  Yes, again . . . risking ending up in the chest-freezer-in-the-basement for the sake of, well, junk.

Came home with two scarred and well worn Pembroke-style tables,

in good physical shape except for their complexions.  These gals have been around the block a few times.

Here they are, reclining in the back of my minivan, along with my other junking finds from today,

and two baskets of things needing dry cleaning.  Just keeping it real.  :-)

 These tables will be lovely when I'm done with them.  Trust me.

They've got good bones, good wood, good brasses, and intact hardware for the leaves.

The seller tossed in a very cute little washstand, or telephone table; not sure which it is.

It, too, is in need of a visit behind the Red Door at Elizabeth Arden but heck, it was free.

We like free.

Maybe I will paint it.  The jury is out on this one.

It's nice and sturdy, and that is a big bonus.

Now, for the Mystery Chest!

The seller said he had a few other pieces to show me

(yeah, we've all heard that one before ....)

and what caught my eye and my imagination was this:

It's a little chest, with three very shallow drawers, a locking mechanism for a lift-up top,

what looks to me like Eastlake hardware, and a sadly over-aggressive refinishing job.

 Whatever patina it once had has been stripped and sanded off, and a poly top coat applied.

Hey, we all did it back in the 70s and 80s -- lots of antique and vintage furniture lost most of its value that way.

This chest has two square thingies on top. . . .

 . . . that have corresponding square "holes" on the underside of the lift-up lid.

Yes, replacement shiny hinges.  Oh what were they thinking?

Front of the chest, showing the lock (no key), and the three drawers.  You can see how shallow they are.

Nice ogee molding around the top.  That's the middle drawer pulled out.

 So what is it?

A spool cabinet?

An artist's cabinet, or architect's?  So papers can be stored flat?

The seller speculated a tea chest, where leaves would be spread out to dry.

He's wrong on that, I think.  No ventilation.

And . . . what kind of wood is it made of?

It is not oak.  Nor pine.  It's a heavy wood.

The wood has some grain, but it's not pronounced.

There are lots of little "dots" in parts of the wood.

Maple, maybe?

C'mon, people!  Put your thinking caps on and figure out

what this really cute cabinet once did for a living!  -- Cass

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