Well, it is most definitely an oldie.
First I'll tell you the good stuff:
The glass is original pressed "wavy" glass, lots of ripples and bubbles, like what I put into my possum belly Hoosier. The finish is original and the patina looks great. It is constructed with hand-cut square nails throughout and the drawer pulls are held in with pegs, not with hardware and there is a good amout of shrinkage visible on these pegs. However, I'm seeing circular saw marks on the underside of the drawers, so it has to be 1880's, but I think it's a safe bet that it's the early part of the late Victorian era, with all the other stuff. It has loads of personality and rustic, battered character. It is REALLY tall, 87".
It has some significant condition issues. There is a piece of the upper molding that needs to be glued back into place. One of the pegged drawer pulls is broken off and a new one would have to be made by a cabinet maker. The inside of the upper cabinet has been painted blue and there is backing on the back of it that is a later addition and I suspect that there are some serious condition issues going on under there. There is some missing decorative inlay on one of the lower drawers and a gouge around the keyhole in the upper cabinet.
All that said I still like it, however I realized that although it has character going for it, it really has minimal value. So after coming home and checking measurements, I emailed the guy back and offered him $100 for it and said that that was really about all I was comfortable with, so we'll see what happens.
Here are some cell phone pics:
You can get a better sense of the age in these photos:
Square nails and nice wear around them in the tabletop. Love the wear on this surface, it's worn very smooth from lots of use.
Inside of the drawer, looking at the peg that secures the drawer pull to the drawer. Notice how these have shrunk and the peg is now recessed.
Old style keyholes
Another angle
