Hello everyone,
This may sound crazy but you all seem so experienced so I am sure you've heard/seen crazier in the amazing antique world.
About 15 years ago, I purchased my deceased grandparents home in Philadelphia from my father and his sisters (my aunts). At the time, most of my grandparents larger furnishings were still in the home. The family members had already taken what they'd wanted. Two very emotionally significant pieces remained....but my family tends to hold onto lots of things and nobody had room for these pieces. They called a local antique dealer who was working (I think) out of a warehouse kind of shop on our neighborhood. She was to come and survey for value, but she wound up striking a deal to take everything and I watched her peel off what I thought was about 5 $100 bills. Then she loaded the items into a pick up truck and off she went. I was in my mid 20s at the time.
A few years ago, I became very involved in researching my family history and found much success in it. I linked up with a 70 yr old relative with similar interests. She began telling me the family history and the about the furniture in my grandparents home. She had no idea these items had been sold. She assumed they were still in the house that I'd purchased. She believed that the items that had been sold had previously been handed down to my grandparents from their parents...and potentially their grandparents.
Now, for several years, I have strongly longed to find these items and buy them back - and, yes, it is very emotional - and yes, I know I may have to pay through the nose now.
I am attaching photos of the items so that anyone here may help me in describing them to better allow me to search. I am not an antique expert, by any means. If you would please do your best to give me a description of the items and any hint about their origination, I'd really be so grateful. Unfortunately, these items were in the photos as mere backdrop, so I don't have any detailed shots and I never checked them for markings/labels. I really want to find these pieces. Is that impossible? Any suggestions on how to approach this?
The first is what my aunts always called a chiffonier, but my 70 yr old relative says it was my great grandfather's music cabinet. As you can see, it has a mirror on the back of the top and then another tier with a metal rail around it. I am reluctant to describe the inside because I can't really recall what it looked like. I know my grandparents kept their liquor and bar ware in it. It had a skeleton key which locked the cabinet. In the photo with the little boy, you can see the brass mounts and the detail on the feet:
Here is another shot if it in the background:
The other piece for which I am hunting is a secretary. This was a very tall piece. The home has very tall ceilings, so you can tell how tall the piece is. I recall one of the glass fronts on the bookcase door being cracked straight across. I have searched and searched the internet and cannot find one that looks similar to this. The family was from Philadelphia and New York, so it could have come from either of those.
For this one, I am sorry it is small. I was reluctant to blow it up for fear of distorting it, but I see that I may have to:
In this one, my grandmom covered the glass doors with christmas paper and also the top of the desk part. When the desk was folded up, it was straight, not slanted. It had a skeleton key lock on the drop down desk part and also on both sets of doors, top and bottom. There were drawers in the secretary desk part, once you opened the desk.
