Identity Unknown (Furniture origin)

[AmberS]

I bought this cabinet/cupboard a couple of weeks ago strictly because I fell in love with how it looks.  I assumed that I'd be able to research it with photos and figure out its (approximate) age and where it had likely come from...yet I can't see to find anything that really looks like it. Only one with a similar configuration of doors and drawers was referred to as a "dowry cupboard", and it was French.  Some of the other cabinets I've seen that had similar facial carvings were from Belgium, and the carvings on the sides of the cabinet are similar to the front panels on a couple of English oak items...so I hope someone out there has seen this before and can give me a hint where to turn next.

This one is locked and has what I would consider BIG skeleton key locks, but I've found a locksmith who says he can make keys for me...the right drawer was modified with a hinge to fold down to accommodate a Victrola, so the handle could be turned from in front. It's heavy but not too heavy for my son and I to lift without much strain, and it is two pieces. The bottom section has the drawers.

I was able to get one arm down into the bottom section because of the modification of the drawer front, and took a photo of the back of one of the door locks. There are no screws, it appears to have been secured by pressing a pin or hammering it into place.  All of this may be perfectly normal for an antique cabinet, I really don't know.

I've attached photos (well, I assume I will be able to) Any help is much appreciated!

[cogar]

.the right drawer was modified with a hinge to fold down to accommodate a Victrola,

Is the "lock" mechanism still in the right-hand drawer "facing"?

If so, take it out and take it to different antique furniture dealers, one may have a key that works.

[ghopper1924]

My guess is ca. 1870, northwest Europe (Belgium, France or Brittany).

[AmberS]

 Sadly, neither of the drawers have locks, only pulls. Good idea, though!

Thanks to both of you for the suggestions and the guess about the cabinet's origins.  I was thinking it was probably more than 100 years old, it's nice that you think so, too.  I appreciate it!

[mart]

Take a pic of the dovetail joints on the outside of the drawer !!  Where the drawer front meets the side ,,please !!

[AmberS]

Here are the sides of the drawer...they aren't very precise, so I assume that means they were handmade, but does this particular style indicate age or origin?

I'm also including a poor photo of the side panel, this pattern is on both sides, top and bottom, vertically. The midsection is horizontal. I saw this particular pattern on one other piece of furniture, it was English (or at least was identified as English).

 

[cogar]

Those are "hand-cut" dovetails ……… which maybe …. could date it more precisely.

[mart]

https://www.harpgallery.com/library/dovetails.htm

Everyone here may find this interesting !!  England would be the last on my list of possibles !!  I do think France Germany or Belgium would be likely !!  But even Germanic regions of the U.S. can not be discounted !!  My opinion is that it was made around the turn of the century to about 1910 !! 

[ghopper1924]

The article notes that hand-cut dovetails were used in Europe through the 1930s and even into the 1940s, so that doesn't really help with your piece, which was clearly made well before then.

[cogar]

OH, WOW, …… AmberS, ….. I think we forgot to ask you, ……. where are you located at,..... or actually, …. where and/or  from whom did you purchase your cabinet?

City, state, country, …… private sale, antique dealer??

Every little bit aids in figuring out the provenance, ……. the chronology of the ownership, custody or location of a historical object

[AmberS]

I bought it in Keller, Texas from an individual who inherited it from her aunt via her mother.  She was downsizing and had to get rid of some pieces that would no longer fit into her household. I believe she said it came from her grandmother originally...I was pretty excited when I went to pick it up so I may be wrong about the grandmother part...the photo I provided was taken in her storage unit.

I live in Weatherford, 30 miles outside of Ft. Worth, Texas.

I know virtually nothing about antiques but I live in one (154 years old this year) so the cupboard fits in.

I still have her phone number so I can call her and see if she can tell me more.  Thanks, everyone, for the guidance!

[mart]

As I said earlier,,Germanic regions of the U.S can not be discounted !!

[cogar]

Especially in the early days, pre-20th Century, most furniture was transported to Texas.

So, like Mart implied, ….. your chest could have came from an area in the upper Midwest, ….. or the Eastern or Northeast US.

[ghopper1924]

Hey Amber:

Got any photos of your house? Sounds cool.....

[jacon4]

Hmmmm, I think a late 19th early 20th century piece, most of the carvings seem applied. I don't think american, more likely european.