When I was a new bride my Hubby
and I went to an antique auction.
I don't remember there being any certain item
we were looking for.
We just enjoyed going to them.
This was over 30 years ago, long before it was "vogue" to
attend auctions and sales and be thrifty.
We were newly married and knew we
could afford the things we found at auctions.
It was an added bonus that we really
liked the funky old things we bought.
This particular auction was at a big warehouse
in a small town.
Because the venue was so large
the furniture did not seem big.
I saw this armoire and liked it so
I decided to bid.
I bid and there were a few others bidding
against me.
Then it was just me and one man.
I kept bidding.
My Hubby was watching me but never
told me to stop.
I kept bidding.
Finally,
the auctioneer shouted out,
"YEP" and pointed at me.
I had won the bid for the armoire.
What I didn't mention was that the armoire
I bought
was a little over 10 feet tall
and four and a half feet wide.
It was massive.
And solid English walnut.
And it weighed well over 200 pounds.
Ha!
And it was all mine.
The doors have a special inlay,
also a special walnut.
The middle piece has the
special inlay as well.
The armoire was in perfect condition
when I bought it.
It did need the old varnish stripped off,
but besides that there was nothing wrong.
We later did strip it all down
and bring the natural beauty of the walnut back
without a lot of shellac.
Each door has a (beautiful) lock on it
that actually locks.
This is the back of the lock.
A small piece of metal
slides down and fits
into the hole pictured below.
Simple and wonderful.
Another wonderful feature of the
armoire is that there is not a single
nail or screw
holding it together.
Not ONE.
Nada.
Zip.
None.
Zero.
Weren't you wondering how we would
load and move a piece of furniture
that was over 10 feet tall and
almost 5 feet wide
and well over 200 pounds?
Well the answer is,
they knew how to make furniture
in the old days!
The armoire comes apart in to ten pieces.
It has three shelves (that were probably added later),
for a total of 13 pieces.
The two pictures above are little braces that cover
joints that butt into each other.
The two particular braces
are ones we made, but
we patterned after the braces
that came with the armoire.
(I photographed the 'new' ones
only because they showed up much better
for photographs.)
You cannot see any of them when the
armoire is put together.
The doors are held on
by these old pins.
Those screws belong to the pin hardware.
The two pieces of pins slide together
and allow the doors
to swing open and shut.
Every single place a board
connects to another board
there are
pegs and holes
that allign
and keep the pieces together.
It takes two or three people
to put it together.
Two put the pieces together
while the third person holds everything in place!
The joints on the header piece
have tiny, tiny
dovetail notches
that keep them together.
The header has
graceful curves on each side.
The back is actually three pieces that I have tried to
show in this photo and the one below.
They slide together
tongue and groove,
(much like flooring does).
You actually have to look
close and hard
to see that it is not one massive piece.
The bottom is one massive (and very heavy) piece.
It has two big drawers,
each with the
acorn and leaf
drawer pulls.
Actually, that is why I liked the
armoire to begin with!
They reminded me of my grandmother!
It is such a great versatile piece.
We have had it in the dining room
full of dishes and platters.
I have had it in the living room
full of old books.
Every Christmas we clean it out
and fill it with old Santas.
The day I bought it,
I had a cousin at the auction as well.
He has a degree in architecture
and he told me to hang on
to the piece and not ever get rid of it.
He said the size and the detail
in which it was put together
were hard to find.
As I was paying, that same day, a gentleman
came up to me and offered me
$2000.00. On the spot!
That is pretty tempting
to two college students.
But we did not cave.
In fact, we knew if someone was offering
that much an hour after the purchase,
then we had a great deal.
(The gentleman had not been there when
the armoire had sold. Thank goodness!!!)
A few years later when we lived in Houston
we saw a very, very similar armoire for
$6000.00.
We smiled.
The only thing our armoire is missing
is the little "crown" on the top.
It has two holes on top, so we know
at one time it had one.
It probably had the
acorns and leaves pattern as well.
Maybe someday we will find a replacement.
Are you wondering how much
I paid that day when I
kept bidding and bidding?
Well, I guess I'll let the secret out.
After all, it was over 30 years ago...
and I have turned down many offers
on the piece.
It has a lot of sentimental memories attached to it now.
....Am I driving you crazy?
OK.
I'll
tell
YOU
the
secret.
I
paid
...
....
......
......
$140.00
Yep.
You read it right.
And I never regretted spending
one dime of that!
Shhhhh!
