One would imagine that for over $120,000…
… the dealer would know which way up the drawers should be!
Jack Plane
Categories
Archives
- April 2024
- March 2024
- January 2024
- December 2023
- October 2023
- September 2023
- July 2023
- June 2023
- May 2023
- April 2023
- January 2023
- December 2022
- November 2022
- September 2022
- August 2022
- July 2022
- June 2022
- April 2022
- March 2022
- January 2022
- December 2021
- November 2021
- October 2021
- September 2021
- June 2021
- May 2021
- April 2021
- March 2021
- December 2020
- July 2020
- June 2020
- May 2020
- April 2020
- February 2020
- January 2020
- December 2019
- November 2019
- September 2019
- August 2019
- July 2019
- June 2019
- May 2019
- April 2019
- March 2019
- February 2019
- December 2018
- November 2018
- October 2018
- August 2018
- July 2018
- June 2018
- May 2018
- April 2018
- March 2018
- February 2018
- January 2018
- December 2017
- November 2017
- October 2017
- August 2017
- July 2017
- June 2017
- May 2017
- April 2017
- March 2017
- February 2017
- January 2017
- December 2016
- November 2016
- October 2016
- September 2016
- August 2016
- July 2016
- June 2016
- May 2016
- April 2016
- March 2016
- February 2016
- January 2016
- December 2015
- November 2015
- October 2015
- September 2015
- August 2015
- July 2015
- June 2015
- May 2015
- April 2015
- March 2015
- February 2015
- January 2015
- December 2014
- November 2014
- October 2014
- September 2014
- August 2014
- July 2014
- June 2014
- May 2014
- April 2014
- March 2014
- February 2014
- January 2014
- December 2013
- November 2013
- October 2013
- September 2013
- August 2013
- July 2013
- June 2013
- May 2013
- April 2013
- March 2013
- February 2013
- January 2013
- December 2012
- November 2012
- October 2012
- September 2012
- August 2012
- July 2012
- June 2012
- May 2012
- April 2012
- March 2012
- February 2012
- January 2012
- December 2011
- November 2011
- October 2011
- September 2011
- August 2011
- July 2011
- June 2011
- May 2011
- April 2011
- March 2011
- February 2011
- January 2011
- December 2010
- November 2010
- October 2010
- September 2010
- August 2010
- July 2010
- June 2010
- May 2010
- April 2010
- March 2010
- February 2010
- January 2010
- December 2009
- November 2009
- October 2009
- September 2009
Meta
Blogroll
-
Join 596 other subscribers
-
Other than where noted to the contrary, the content of this blog belongs to Jack Plane.
If you abuse the content in any way whatsoever or copy any part of it without Jack’s express written permission, various parts of your anatomy – according to an ancient Irish curse – will wither and drop off (or at the very least, some awful legal trouble will befall you).
Copyright © Jack Plane, all rights reserved, MMIX – MMXXII.
Pegs and 'Tails 
The upside down draw is an obvious boo boo. What is the other pullout for? The drawer sliding on it would seem to leave marks on what looks like another writing surface. How could you use both at the same time. This seems to be redundant.
LikeLike
As you say, the slide must exhibit obvious scars from the superjacent drawer.
I haven’t seen a slide in this precise location before. It is too low to be used with someone seated at the bureau as it would hit their shins or knees.
JP
LikeLike
Sad. A rush job by some “setter-uppers”? Are things really that fast paced in the industry that someone can’t review a photo-shoot for a job worth over $100K?
Regards,
Brian S.
LikeLike
I agree with your comment that a reputable dealer should know which way the drawer should go, but consider this: if you look closely at the “up side down drawer”, the key hole if correct, having the round hole on top & the bell below.
What’s up here?
LikeLike
You’re onto something Tom. The drawer isn’t upside down, but rather the lock engages the divider underneath the drawer (since the pull out is above), and makes it look like the drawer is in wrong. For $120 large, we can find out!
LikeLike
The presence of a lock can often be for balance/status and not for any practical purpose.
I did consider the lock might engage the subjacent divider, however, with a piece of this stature; if the second drawer does indeed lock into the subjacent divider, then I would expect the escutcheon to match the others in orientation and position, and for a long, bottom-throw lock to be employed (not unheard of).
By the by, the door escutcheon is also upside down (as is the door lock) which may be indicative of the cabinetmaker using what ever locks he had to hand rather than purchasing purpose made locks (left hand lock for the door and bottom-throw lock for the drawer).
JP
LikeLike
For that kind of money, we will never know what we would find on the (inside), but wouldn`t that be great?
LikeLike
What’s going on with the left hand side of the carcass? Has some veneer fallen of?
Regards,
Paul
LikeLike
The veneer is present and correct; the waxy surface has become cloudy due to damp/ultraviolet light.
JP
LikeLike
Where is the problem? As far as I can see there is a sliding shelve in between the two drawers so the slot was set at the bottom.
LikeLike
Someone is thinking!
Had I built it I would have installed the handle to match the others and skipped on the lock. However, for $120,000 I’ll build it how you want it.
LikeLike
I saw this piece too and emailed the seller. He wrote me the following.
“The brushing slide was a typical feature on early 18th century furniture. It was normally found on larger chests of drawers and was used for brushing clothes or doubling up as a writing surface.
On this piece as it is on a small scale it would have been used as a writing surface for a small child who may not have been able to reach the writing surface on the slide of the bureau.
The escutcheon on the second drawer is purely ornamental so as to be in symmetry with all the brass work on the drawer fronts. It doesn’t, therefore have a lock unlike the others.”
LikeLike
The height of the bureau bookcase falls within standard dimensions. I therefore don’t follow what the “small scale” (narrow width?) of the bureau has to do with a child’s ability or inability to reach the writing surface of the fall.
In his response, the dealer states the second drawer is devoid of a lock, yet a drill pin is clearly visible in the centre of the ‘top hole’ of the escutcheon. This could, however, be a dummy drill pin riveted to a plain iron plate attached to the drawer’s interior (again, not unheard of – not every drawer of every piece of seventeenth- and eighteenth-century furniture possessed a lock and nothing cries “expense” louder than the chamfered tip of a lock’s drill pin protruding through every keyhole).
If the second drawer escutcheon is indeed “purely ornamental”, then why isn’t it oriented the same as the others? This would tend to support the notion that the entire drawer has been inserted upside down.
JP
LikeLike
Sure. The Devil’s to pay when you’re all off for selling something. Caveat Emptor.
LikeLike
It might hit $125,000 with all the drawers in correctly…
LikeLike
Could it be that the lock does access the blade under and the escutcheon is proprietary and was put on that way because of availability. Also would not the drawer also act as a lopers for the writing or “brushing” surface. May have even been reused brass off of another piece.
Jim
LikeLike
This is a high status piece of furniture and its maker would have been an exceptionally proud craftsman who would not have lowered his standards or compromised his deserved reputation. Had he intended the drawer to lock into the subjacent divider, then he would have fitted a long, bottom-throw lock for that purpose and the escutcheon would have been in the same location and orientation as the others.
Drawers have been used as lopers for bureaux falls, but I have not encountered a brushing slide employed as a loper for a drawer. Drawers typically see much more use and wear than brushing slides, so a drawer would soon sag and be of no use as a support for the slide.
I believe we are over-thinking the situation; the dealer who is currently offering this bureau bookcase for sale has already stated the second drawer lock is inoperable and the escutcheon is purely ornamental. The drawer is simply upside down.
JP
LikeLike