Id red cedar chest?

[restoration]

Hi all,
I'm hoping someone out there can help with a approx date and style/name/maker for a red cedar chest that I've inherited? See attached photos)
Fortunately the restoration that was started (not by me!!) with what looks like a angle grinder only took the paint off and not the wood.
The back of the dresser is made of two solid hoop pine planks and the mirror, front faces and bottoms of drawers seem to be red cedar.
Any info or advice would be gratefully received!
Regards
Matt

[Xanthorrhoeas]

It looks to me to be Federation style, roughly 1900 to 1920's and quite likely Queensland made with the use of Hoop Pine as a secondary. Makers are rarely known unless there is a stamp or other mark somewhere on the piece. Even then, the stamp etc. is often that of the retailer, not the maker. It should look good once you remove that paint. Often the paint was applied straight over the original shellac finish and will scrape off if you use a heat gun and scraper. When its stubborn, as in the beaded grooves and carving sometimes fine oooo steel wool and metho will remove it because it dissolves the shellac under the paint.

If you re-finish with shellac it will adhere well to any old shellac on the surface and that keeps the aged patina so important to the aesthetic and financial value of antiques.

There are quite a few experienced restorers on these forums so if you keep posting there will be more advice available.

David

[restoration]

It looks to me to be Federation style, roughly 1900 to 1920's and quite likely Queensland made with the use of Hoop Pine as a secondary. Makers are rarely known unless there is a stamp or other mark somewhere on the piece. Even then, the stamp etc. is often that of the retailer, not the maker. It should look good once you remove that paint. Often the paint was applied straight over the original shellac finish and will scrape off if you use a heat gun and scraper. When its stubborn, as in the beaded grooves and carving sometimes fine oooo steel wool and metho will remove it because it dissolves the shellac under the paint.

If you re-finish with shellac it will adhere well to any old shellac on the surface and that keeps the aged patina so important to the aesthetic and financial value of antiques.

There are quite a few experienced restorers on these forums so if you keep posting there will be more advice available.

David


Thanks for the advice David!
I'll try the heat gun on a bit of it tomorrow.
Any areas in particular where a stamp would be located?
Matt

[Mobyturns]

Most of the makers marks that I have seen were on drawer bottoms or on the backing boards of the frame. Typically something like this Ed Rosenstengel Furniture | Just another WordPress site (http://rosenstengelfurniture.com/)

this is also an interesting read http://www.gnolsson.com/pdf/AAQ%20PDF%20Articles/AAQ200311%20Queenslands%20proud%20furniture%20tradition.pdf

[restoration]

Most of the makers marks that I have seen were on drawer bottoms or on the backing boards of the frame. Typically something like this Ed Rosenstengel Furniture | Just another WordPress site (http://rosenstengelfurniture.com/)

this is also an interesting read http://www.gnolsson.com/pdf/AAQ%20PDF%20Articles/AAQ200311%20Queenslands%20proud%20furniture%20tradition.pdf

Thanks Mobyturns...i'll check more closely!
Matt

[Mobyturns]

One thing that was common was a stamp proclaiming "European Labour Only" European labour stamps on Australian furniture (http://blogs.slv.vic.gov.au/such-was-life/social-life-customs/european-labour-stamps-on-australian-furniture/)

[Zsteve]

I'd be inclined to date it as late Victorian considering the rounded corners, the knobs. Also with the gothic revival quaterfoils (club/clover leaf) type design under the mirror. Should restore nicely but can be a bit of work to remove paint carefully

[restoration]

I'd be inclined to date it as late Victorian considering the rounded corners, the knobs. Also with the gothic revival quaterfoils (club/clover leaf) type design under the mirror. Should restore nicely but can be a bit of work to remove paint carefully

Sorry for my ignorance...but what does late Victorian mean? late 1800's??
Also, how do you describe such a piece? Is it a dutchess?
Thanks again for the information and advice!
Matt

[Arron]

Two things indicate to me that this is a combo, with the mirror from a much older piece.
- the amount of feature on the mirror vs none on the cabinet
- the plinth of the cabinet looks 30 s or 40s to me - perhaps not but doesn't go with the mirror. The rest of the cabinet makes sense.
Cheers
Arron

[Xanthorrhoeas]

Two things indicate to me that this is a combo, with the mirror from a much older piece.
- the amount of feature on the mirror vs none on the cabinet
- the plinth of the cabinet looks 30 s or 40s to me - perhaps not but doesn't go with the mirror. The rest of the cabinet makes sense.
Cheers
Arron

I can see your point Arron, but, arguing against it being a "marriage" is the fact that the traditional small side drawers beside the mirror exactly match the rounded corners and mouldings on the main chest. There is certainly a strong style difference between the mirror and the chest of drawers, but that was common in regionally made (aka provincial) furniture where it would not have been found in Sydney.

Matt, if you want to check the idea of it being a marriage, then you should look for "witness marks" (i.e.stray screw holes, bruising etc.) that would indicate that another mirror and supports had once been attached. If someone replaced the mirror at some stage then it would be most likely that they had to make new screw holes, attachment points etc. and the old ones would be there to be found.

[Xanthorrhoeas]

Sorry for my ignorance...but what does late Victorian mean? late 1800's??
Also, how do you describe such a piece? Is it a dutchess?
Thanks again for the information and advice!
Matt

Yes, "late Victorian" usually means between 1880 and 1900. The decoration of the mirror and even the rounded corners and moulding of the chest could well be late Victorian. It is very difficult to date furniture, particularly provincial furniture like this piece, because makers mixed up decorative details and constructions techniques picked up through their often eclectic learning process. However, one usually dates a piece by its latest feature, because it obviously can't have been made before that feature was common. My gestalt of the piece is that it is Edwardian/Federation as it seems to have some later features. However, some of the design features in it were certainly evident as early as 1875 so I could easily be wrong. Given that Brisbane was only settled (as a free settlement) in 1856 (I think) and was a very poor settlement for all the 19th and most of the 20th centuries, dating the piece to as early as 1875 or even 1880's would be a stretch. Cedar was in plentiful supply in Queensland right up to at least 1900 so an early piece would more likely have been solid cedar throughout, probably with some cedar choice thick veneers planted in show locations. The plainness of most of this piece plus the use of Hoop Pine as a secondary argue for a later creation date.

I would call this piece a Dressing Chest.

Hope this helps.

David

[restoration]

Thanks for all the info and advice.
The paint comes off easily with a heat gun. Need to make a few scrapers to do the curves on the top.
Haven't tried to get into the finer carving around the mirror yet. I'll leave that til later :)
Matt

[Mobyturns]

Whilst this isn't helpfull in dating or identifying the piece I can remember items like this in my cousin's grandfathers home (and some others) in Cairns. They were a quite affluent professional family with a long history in Cairns. Most of the good quality red cedar furniture was made from very old growth trees so tends to have a very deep chocolate brown colour.

Most of the furniture pieces I have seen from that era (late 1800's to 1930's) also had HQ solid brass fittings, not knobs.

As a side story my brother has some wonderful solid saurian cedar furniture that has been very cleverly "aged" and given a vintage look - only one dead giveaway - it was designed to take large screen TV. ??