History Lessons

liquor
Originally uploaded by This Cat Tom.

I picked this piece up in a two-piece duo at His House in West Columbia, South Carolina. It's a little small for use as a hutch, so I passed on it the first day. The glass door is old glass, as in irregular, not mass-produced. It had pendants on either side, and stood on lathed-legs. So it had my attention.

Then I thought of using it as a great big huge liquor cabinet, which is funny two ways: 1) I just tore apart my old liquor cabinet because it was too large, and 2) I really don't drink much.

But taking this one down to repair it was interesting. I was really hoping to find a maker and a date. But all I found was mysteries. Who makes square-pegs? More precisely, how is it efficient to make a square hole for that square shelf-holder? Then I noticed that the door is bevelled. At about 17 degrees. So is the opening on both sides. That takes planning. The drawer has dovetail construction, which suffered under an attempted repair that made it necessary for me to sawz'all it open.

It has every indication of being really old except one: plywood. It IS oak ply, but that can't be that old, Nothing like Wikipedia to stand me corrected. This cabinet is a true antique. I feel really bad about painting it. Really bad. Maybe I'd feel better if I knew its history. Click on the photo to see all the pictures at Flickr.