Thread: Help with identifying mid century chest of drawers

Apart from growing up with mid-century modern furniture it is not my forte, I know more about 19th century furniture. However, some observations & comments that may be of use to you. This item looks home-made to me and, if it was, it may have been made (most likely in my opinion) following a design in a woodworking magazine. If that is the case it may be possible to find and date the design, and therefore approximate date.

I can't tell from the photos whether all the timber is the same as the top. The top is quarter-cut silky oak. It looks too pale to be Northern Silky Oak - though there is a lot of variation in that timber. The colour looks more like Southern Silky Oak, but if so the plywood top would have most likely been home made plywood. If the ply looks machine made then the only machine made silky oak plywood that I know of is Northern Silky Oak. My father had a Northern Silky Oak desk made in the early 1950's in north Queensland (by the local undertaker/cabinet maker) and the top of that was a commercial Northern Silky Oak.

Another thought is that it could have been a high school or Technical school (Tafe) project. If it was then there may well be members of these forums that made such things or saw them and so hopefully one of those will respond.

Originally Posted by Xanthorrhoeas

Apart from growing up with mid-century modern furniture it is not my forte, I know more about 19th century furniture. However, some observations & comments that may be of use to you. This item looks home-made to me and, if it was, it may have been made (most likely in my opinion) following a design in a woodworking magazine. If that is the case it may be possible to find and date the design, and therefore approximate date.

I can't tell from the photos whether all the timber is the same as the top. The top is quarter-cut silky oak. It looks too pale to be Northern Silky Oak - though there is a lot of variation in that timber. The colour looks more like Southern Silky Oak, but if so the plywood top would have most likely been home made plywood. If the ply looks machine made then the only machine made silky oak plywood that I know of is Northern Silky Oak. My father had a Northern Silky Oak desk made in the early 1950's in north Queensland (by the local undertaker/cabinet maker) and the top of that was a commercial Northern Silky Oak.

Thanks for the feedback, the rounded edge of the drawers casing shows the same silky oak grain as the top and it comes through in sections of the sides. I'm pretty sure this was custom made but by someone with some skills as its a really nice design.

Thanks. That is much clearer and I can se at it is all the same timber, which argues for it being Northern Silky Oak, which was very commonly used for Queensland mid-century modern furniture. The detail also shows that it was very well made. My comment "home-made" was not to imply poor quality by-the-way, just individuality. However, the detail in the base with either a sliding dovetail or a full-width tenon is very adept and makes me doubt my earlier diagnosis of home-made, but it is still possibly a Tech school assignment/exam piece. Maybe someone with more knowledge of these styles will be able to help more.

Originally Posted by Xanthorrhoeas

Thanks. That is much clearer and I can se at it is all the same timber, which argues for it being Northern Silky Oak, which was very commonly used for Queensland mid-century modern furniture. The detail also shows that it was very well made. My comment "home-made" was not to imply poor quality by-the-way, just individuality. However, the detail in the base with either a sliding dovetail or a full-width tenon is very adept and makes me doubt my earlier diagnosis of home-made, but it is still possibly a Tech school assignment/exam piece. Maybe someone with more knowledge of these styles will be able to help more.

I think you're right, it may have just been a one off project/job otherwise I'm sure I would have seen something even slightly similar by now. I think the turned handles are teak and one was sheared off on both sides so I had a few spares which have bowl shaped tops But the originals are flat, a lot of sanding got almost all of the bowl shape out to try and match it as best as possible.

the design itself indicates that this is not a commercially produced item -though it does have validity if single sections are for sale as well (grow your drawers till you can just see in the top) Legs suggest post 40s-60s -hard to tell.