On the agenda for this weekend, here is the dresser that I want to paint indigo blue.

Before anyone blows a gasket about painting wood, or antiques, let me explain the most glaring problem with this piece.  It’s missing one drawer pull.  Just one.  Sigh.  I want to post a public notice that explains to people that missing ‘just one’ handle is a problem.  I’ve purchased countless pieces that are missing just one handle, and the seller always thinks this is minor, it’s ‘just one’.  At first I was optimistic about this guy.  I took a handle off and carried it around in my purse for weeks.  I checked eBay, Etsy, Rochler, etc.  I naively thought I could find a match.  Ha!  Then, I thought that if I could find something very similar, I could buy two and put them on the top drawer and leave the rest.  Ha!  For about 5 minutes I entertained the notion of putting entirely different knobs on just the top drawer … but, I’m pretty sure that would look stupid.  Any way you cut it, the integrity of this piece as an antique is pretty much lost along with ‘just one’ drawer pull.

Another issue with this guy are the little knobs that were added to the top jewelry drawers.  Follow the arrow on my photo:

Yep, I’m pretty sure those are not original.  They kind of overlap the key hole, and they aren’t screwed into the wood very far because the metal lock mechanism is behind them.  I’m definitely not an expert and I don’t even play one on TV, but I think these small drawers were intended to be opened with the key, not a knob.  Are there any experts reading this?  If so, please enlighten me if I’m wrong.  Either way, I’m taking them off.  Luckily, I have a key!  It didn’t come with the dresser, but I have a stash of old furniture keys and found one that will open all of the locks except ‘just one’ (naturally)!

One last furniture lesson for today.  This piece also has ‘pin and cove’ joinery.  From what I have read online, where all serious scholars do their research, this type of joinery was only done in the U.S., and only for a relatively short period of time around the 1890’s.

So, yes, this dresser is old, but is it an antique?  Here is how Wikipedia defines an antique:

An antique (Latin: antiquus; “old”, “ancient”) is an old collectable item. It is collected or desirable because of its age, beauty, rarity, condition, utility, personal emotional connection, and/or other unique features. It is an object that represents a previous era or time period in human society.

It is common practice to define “antique” as applying to objects at least 100 years old.

So, maybe it is, but I think ‘antique’ is in the eye of the beholder.  To me, the missing drawer pull and weird added knobs make this an ideal candidate for paint.  Especially if I can manage to make the paint job look properly aged.  That is what I am hoping to achieve.  Stay tuned.