Outstanding Antique Empire Mahogany Mirrored Kneehole Dressing Table or Vanity

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Outstanding Empire mirrored kneehole dressing table or vanity made from the best mahogany and flame mahogany veneer.. Secondary woods consist … Read more Outstanding Empire mirrored kneehole dressing table or vanity made from the best mahogany and flame mahogany veneer.. Secondary woods consist of poplar, rosewood, pine and walnut. In my opinion piece was made in Boston, Ma about 1820 by one of the leading cabinet makers in the city at the time, like Isaac Vose or Emmons and Archibald. The flame mahogany veneer on the drawer fronts has beautifully matched figure. The refined carved elements are elegant in their execution. The slightly tapered mirror supports have robust turned and carved finials. The pivoting brass candle arms really help elevate the piece. Its hard to tell in the photos but the proportions are outstanding. Large enough to make a statement and yet restrained enough to be incredibly elegant. As for condition here it goes. I had the piece professionally restored. Besides having the piece refinished we did the following. At some point 100 years ago someone replaced the original wooden knobs with Chippendale style drawer pulls. We replaced them with the correct style wooden knobs and pugged the extra holes made by the batwing style pulls. We polished the brass candle arms. There are 2 half round veneer patches in the top. These are shown in the photos. The mirror was originally located where these patches are. It was common on pieces at this time that had mirrors to place the mirror in the center of the top. Obviously this made using the flat surface of the top difficult so probably 100 years or more ago some one had the mirror located to its present location. This 2 veneer patches are the only veneer repairs on the entire piece! The mirror has spotting as you expect on a mirror of this age. As for the quality of the workmanship, lets start with the back boards of the mirror. They are walnut and actually screwed in place instead of the more common nails. The same with the pine backboards of the lower case. Note the fine dovetails on the drawer. The top row of drawers that do not have pulls and didnt originally have rosewood drawer sides with polar back and bottom and show the same fine dovetail construction. A beautiful piece of furniture that could also make a statement in a foyer as well as a bedroom. Piece is 43 3/4" wide and 17 1/4" deep and stands 70 1/2" tall. The mirror and supports are removeable. See less