Antique Chinese-Made Furniture Piece

[matty77]

Hello Everyone,

My wife picked this up at a garage sale this morning.  The owner only shared 2 things about it:

1)  It is old
2)  It is Chinese

My wife knows better than to believe either of these at face value, but she also noticed the through-tenon joinery and the hand-cut dovetails on the drawers (fronts only - rears are nailed).  As you can see from the photos, the top has a decorative lip around it, and lifts off.  The top of the piece underneath has a flip-up section, and opposite of this a rectangular piece of the top appears to be cut, but is not movable.  The hardware is old brass and appears to have a genuine patina.

Does anyone know the function of this piece?  My gut reaction was that it was a bar of some sort (top removable for serving, flip-up section for an ice bucket, etc.), but I have been unable to locate anything quite like it online.  Any assistance in identifying its function and general age would be GREATLY appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

[rsorgel]

it kind of looks like the kitchen island that i have, the reason i say this is because it has cabinets, drawers, and the top flips up. i doubt that is what this is, but it is definitely beautiful. another thought was a thread table, but i doubt that as well as when you flip the top, it goes so deep

[talesofthesevenseas]

It is Chinese I can say that much, but I don't know that it is as old as you are hoping. Look to see if there are wear patterns where the doors have swung open/closed. The hinges should swivel on pegs that are in the corners of the doors, rather than metal hinges. The doors should not be made of a single piece of wood. That indicates later, quickie construction. Old doors were made of multiple pieces of wood to allow the wood to shrink and expand with age. You should see channels worn into the wood where the drawers have slid in and out and wear spots from things rolling around in the drawers. Look at the joins in the construction, especially the mortise and tenon joints (those square peg like joins) you should see some evidence of the wood shrinking if it is very old. I just posted a picture in the Special Threads topic showing the patina on the brass of a 100 year+ Chinese antique which might also help.

Watch the video on this page titled "Determining the age of Chinese Antiques" John and Eugene are really great at explaining what to look for. If you email them, they are also very good about responding if you send them photos and ask questions. They are super nice guys and very knowledgable. They have lots of great videos full of free information. They have helped me a lot.

http://www.chineseantiquefurnitureshop.com/videos.html

[KC]

I know this sounds odd....but is there any particular smell to the piece?  Like the smell of chemicals/lacquer?

[matty77]

Thank you for the info Tales.  Yes - there is a LOT of wear on this piece, and the joints have shrunk slightly.  I have e-mailed John at the link you gave me below (what a great site!), and I will let you know what he says.

There is no noticeable odor to the piece.

[talesofthesevenseas]

Let us know what John and Eugene have to say! I like their site too, it is really great that they share so much information.