Hello. I am looking to identify a possible antique vanity. It has what looks like hand tooled dovetails. It needs work as the drawers are banged up but it is still quite pretty.
Thanks!
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It is lovely and looks quite old and well made. Unforutntely you may never be able to ID the maker if there are no marks.
You could (and I have done this) try searching newspapers from 1900-1940 from your state and see if there is a furniture ad where the piece matches yours. For this I would search Victorian vanity or if the mirror is tri fold (hard to tell from the photo), Victorian vanity with tri fold mirror.
Newspaper.com is a great way to do this, but it is a paid subscription. I have found many pieces in my studies from ads so if you have the time to do that, I would suggest trying it.
Or, if you have a reputable antique dealer in your town, see if they know the maker.
It looks like the white is not the original color so I would focus more on matching the gingerbread trim with a brown piece than try find it in white (but that is my opinion and I cannot see the entire piece).
If you can't ID it, and you re asking to price, a dealer can tell you what they go for in your town and if it is worth doing the work to refinish it or if it should be sold as is.
I used to refinish furniture and in many cases if you are not a professional (I was not) you would lower the value when doing the work. Learned that the hard way! Of course, I did refinish mostly for myself...so that was fine.
Post back what you learn! Great piece! Thanks for sharing!
Your vanity looks like it is on the slight edge of the Art Deco area to me. I had a similar one in 1960 and it was made in 1945 and the large round or oblong mirrors were the 'in thing' so yours may have been made about that time (end of the Art Deco period).
You really need to show a picture of the full dresser - full front view - even if it is not in the best shape as that is how these pieces are identified.
Sometimes you can post good pictures and description on forums and the members will respond with good information. You do have to join each site before posting. Reddit is good but you have to find the right group to post it to. The administrators will help you.
www.antiquers.com/
www.reddit.com/
Thank you guys for the added info. Here is a full picture
Wow - that is beautiful!
Hope you have room for it in your home.
To me, this type of piece just makes me feel 'warm all over' when I walk into the room.
This looks very similar to one that my grandmother had in her bedroom for as long as I can remember. That was the one piece of furniture that she kept and would never part with. I asked her why and she said that she had to save for almost a year to buy this in 1920 because my grandfather didn't want her to buy this. She wanted this bad and she finally got what she wanted.
I would actually go to an auction house or antique dealer in your area and talk with them about this piece. From what I see and I am not an expert in this it could be from the 1920s or so. The design on the mirror and the from of the drawers sure looks like the one my grandmother had in her bedroom.
What a stunning piece!! If you can't ID it and want to sell it some key words would be shabby chic, cottage style, gingerbread trim, and maybe deco (based on that stunning mirror).
In some places pieces like this are highly sought after (US East coast in beach towns).
Thanks for sharing the whole picture! It is just yummy!!
Look for markings inside a drawer, behind or under the piece. This looks like a quality piece of furniture and should have a marking someplace.
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