Thanks for all the input, people
I'm not claiming ownership, just trying to figure out what it is and whether it has any value... I find this piece particularly intriguing, somehow...
It sounds like you all think its a reproduction rather than an antique, and since you mentioned seeing the underneath I've had a look and it looks 'machined' rather than put together by hand to me, so I'm thinking you're correct... And yes, I definitely see a repeating pattern on the top there...
The owner of the barn (and the rest of the land and property I'm managing) doesn't seem to know much about it. I spoke to him yesterday, and he thinks (!) he has keys for it "somewhere", and "thinks" that his brother MAY have brought it back from Europe a few years ago... but they don't speak to each other any more (!), so he can't say for sure... Supporting this 'brought back from Europe' hypothesis are holes drilled underneath which may have been made by customs officials (!), due to one of the keys being absent, he says...
(It's THAT kind of a place - two of the barns are full of things like this (hidden amongst vast piles of junk) which I have no clue about, but he's told me that if I can get a decent price for any of it to go ahead and feel free to sell stuff, OR use it in the house here...)
Again, thanks for your detective work! And yes, those ARE drawers with keyholes over the legs...
