sent for identification
Dear Nadja,
First let me commend you on the excellent job you do as Editor-in-Chief of the “Eastern Shore” magazine.
I look forward to every issue with the informative articles and current events.
I know of your love for antiques and wonder if you could give me any information on the lion head buffet, a picture of which is enclosed. I have never seen another one like it and would be interested in finding out the approximate year it was made and any other facts pertaining to this particular piece of furniture. All the pulls are original and the wood is oak, but that is the extent of my knowledge.
Enclosed is a stamped self-addressed envelope and would greatly appreciate your expertise.
Thank you again for “What’s Up? Eastern SHore”, and I can’t bear to part with any of the past issues.
–V.M.
Easton, MD
Thank you for all the compliments regarding “What’s Up? Eastern Shore. In response to your questions, when I once had an antiques store up in New England, I had and sold a very similar late Victorian oak sideboard. However yours is much nicer in that it has the handsome lion’s head carved in the center between the top drawers (as far as I can tell from the photograph.) The style was very popular in the late 1900’s until about 1910 and various versions of sturdy solid oak furniture were made by a variety of mail order companies including Sears Roebuck and Montgomery Ward.
This was a transitional time, when machines were able to do some of the decorative work on furniture and individual pieces of machine carving was glued and pegged into place while other sections might still have been individually done by hand. ( It is hard to tell without an examination in person),
I can tell by your photo that you have a nice mirror of bevelled glass, With the passage of time, many of these original mirrors have been removed from the sideboard, so the fact that yours is in tact adds value.
Golden oak is the finish of your sideboard and while many of these pieces were copied in the 1970s and 80s, your is an American original.
Enjoy!
–Nadja Maril
