Antique help needed...

[Charles Henrickson]

definitely looks like it could be a smallish liquor cabinet. . . .

In that case I'll amend #11 to "booze" leather.

[leilani]

I vote for liquor cabinet, definitely.Note the racks for bar towels. Here's a chippendale style one for comparison:

No markings on the bottom of yours at all?

[battlegearboat]

That, my friend is a ship's bar.

It and several like it are to be found in the Captain's Cabin of merchant vessels.

I'm somewhat of an authority on this matter, as I have been in countless captain's cabins, conducting official business, and have admired many a liquor cabinet.

I was even given a small one by a grateful ship's master after I returned his drunken crew back to his ship.

[mikrofon]

If you put it up for sale on eBay, don't forget to high-ball your asking price...

[leilani]

Hmm. That might explain the lack of mfr mark if it were nautical.And the high quality hardware looks salty to me too. Seems like there might be evidence of attachment though? These bar cabs were popular on land too a few decades back (60's?).People often even adapted regular chests & commodes themselves to accommodate liquor which I suspected to be the case until I read your post. This "off the shelf" one is somewhat similar to the ersatz "early american" of the subject cab was made by Ethan Allen:

[Number57]

Interesting! Never heard of such a thing, thank you (and to everyone else for your input)... I'll do some more looking around.

Is there anything else I could look for in the design or construction to give me a clue?

I don't think I'm interested in selling it... I don't think... heh

[Number57]

Can an estimate be made by examing the hardware? The most obvious clue would be the standard screws, and brass. Working locks (to which I have no key), and evidence that someone who didn't have the key broke into this thing, thereby reducing the value.

Bastard.

I'm just gonna keep it, and convert it into a video game cabinet... VG unit on top, TV on bottom.