Q: I have a small display cabinet 21.5 in. high x 12 in. wide. Do you think it might be a doll cabinet? It was my mother-in-law’s.
A: Looking at images sent, a casual observer could think that the reader’s piece is a circa 1900-1920s china cabinet in a popular style with a half-round wooden frame.
Such cabinets were usually oak with convex glass on three sides. They were often found in front rooms or a parlor, where house-proud housewives stored or displayed all kinds of china, glassware, whatnots, or tchotchkes.
But note the size of this cabinet. Going through possibilities on original use, one thought was as a jewelry display cabinet. But the shape is too utilitarian and plain. The wood appears to be oak, a common wood. Inside surfaces are rough and unfinished. The inside of a jewelry cabinet would be smooth, perhaps lined.
The reader adds that the shelves are thin and supported by small dowels, indicating that they were not built for weight. The feet are rudimentary and too plain for a decorative item.
Use as a cabinet to hold a doll or dolls is improbable, because shelves divide the interior into three spaces. The cabinet is too large for use as dollhouse furniture.
Another possibility is that the cabinet was a child’s accessory, for playing house with dolls. Rough finishing may indicate that it was made by a home craftsman.
Or perhaps it’s a salesman’s sample. Long before catalogs and the Net, salesmen traveled a territory with miniature versions of their products. Precise small versions of stoves, farm equipment, furniture and large objects too heavy to lug became visual aids. In this case, a furniture store owner or buyer could see a small version of the exact cabinet before placing an order.
Often confused with children’s toys, salesman’s samples are highly collected today. They’re also commonly confused with miniatures, which were made to rigid standards of scale.
Fine samples — and some were works of art — bring handsome sums. In the sale mentioned in the art with this column, a 19th C. salesman’s sample of a seeder farm machine sold for $11,200. Beautifully modeled, it was attractive, unique and in excellent condition.
Here’s a case where paying a little for short-term use of an online data base could be very helpful. Smart collectors know that searching and comparing is vital for a successful sale.
Keying www.worthpoint.com for several categories of small cabinets, we found that a new dollhouse version of the reader’s cabinet sold recently on eBay for $12.
An old, rustic and well-made 21.5 in. x 12 in. child’s antique oak china cabinet with shelves and two drawers brought $225 in 2014. Based on that last piece of research, the reader could infer that her piece, though not as polished as this one, had a similar use.
Right there, we learn how helpful online research can be. Comparing sold items with what you have —priceless.
