Armoire - Armoire

Mahogany armoire with gothic-style arch-paneled doors. The cornice has four rails joined together with moldings applied around the front. The corners of the cornice are solid pieces of wood inserted between moldings that are glue blocked and nailed to form the uppermost portion of the cornice. The entire cornice rests on pins inserted into the case and bolted to the case through a block of wood on either side. The back of the case is composed of two backboards tongue and groove joined. Each backboard consists of three rails mortised and tenoned into two stiles. The sides of the case are solid pieces of wood with ghost marks for four shelf supports. A single shelf runs the length of the front and a single vertical support is mortised and tenoned into that shelf. The central support has two shelf supports which correspond with those on the side and hold two shelves. The shelf supports are screwed into the case with three screws and the shelf is placed on top. It appears that the shelves were originally configured in another way as there are areas with the ghosts of original shelf supports. There is a front stile that is joined to the side panel on either side and is a lamination of two pieces of wood. The doors consist of two stiles and three rails. The top rail and the top panel is molded in a gothic motif with a quarter round molded into the rails and stiles to create detail. A half round strip is nailed to the proper left door. The doors rotate on a brass post as opposed to hinges. The doors have their original lock, eye to the hook, and wooden escutcheons. The base is formed with four rails joined together supporting the baseboard and the baseboard is glue blocked. There are strips of wood nailed to the top of either side of the side rails where the baseboard rests. The feet are blocks of wood with molded facings glued to the fronts creating false bracket feet. The front two feet each have two glue blocks. The entire piece sits on four sets of original double-casters drilled into the blocks that create the feet. The entire exterior of the piece is mahogany veneered.