Well...I'd like to see all of it...the top the legs and the sides as well as the inside....but from what I can see I'd say it's about 1930...likely maple of birch and solid not veneer.
Linda c

Thanks Linda,
I'll have to take better pics, of that and the buffet too. I'm in the process of moving so they are at different locations right now. What would you call this style? Do you think it's American made ?
I do believe that it's solid.

Looks like a veneer to me, but probably a veneer over solid wood, as they did in those days. They still used pretty solid construction techniques with this material though, so the pieces can be very good quality.

Very cute with that round window.

PS: As far as I can gather, a hutch refers to a top cabinet that is on legs or brackets, leaving the surface of the bottom cabinet free. I think "china cabinet" would be the right term.

KarinL

I am curious, what about the picture of that cupboard makes you think it's veneer?
And a hutch has nothing to do with legs brackets or surfaces, it's the name given to a cabinet that is placed on top of another piece of furniture....the top part is what is called a "hutch".
Linda C

I suspect parts of it are veneer, parts not. I have a similar era china cupboard. I always thought it was solid, too. Sure looked it. But, my ancient dog peed against the bottom of it, and months later, I saw a thin veneer peeling loose on the very bottom panel. Under it was beautiful, solid wood and why on earth they'd chose that part of a cabinet to veneer????, but they did. I am going to remove the veneer all the way around the bottom ledge of it, and finish it off. Someday down the road, I may replace the veneer, but I doubt for my purposes I'll have to. You'll never tell. And, it's not a particularly valuable piece, either. Good veneer pieces are done so skillfully you almost would have to ruin it to detect it's there.

I think it's veneer because the whole doors look like one slab of wood, and there's no way they are - such a piece would be a treasure, and this isn't. I'd want to see a close-up shot of the edge of the wood, though occasionally those are so cleverly stained or also veneered that you really can't tell, until the dog (or cat) pees on it, what it really is.

If you have a chance ever to look closely at one of those old oak desks, the tops and slide-out boards are made like that, so are many coffee tables and the like. I can maybe post a few photos next week. But if you can't see separate boards, as here, on a fairly old piece of furniture that predates particle board, it is almost guaranteed to be veneer over solid wood tongue-in-groove. Kept the wood strips from splitting and kept the whole thing straight and level. If you see older furniture made just of laminated boards, tongue-in-groove or not, they start to split, shrink, and warp with time.

As for hutch, I think common usage would still call this a china cabinet, though you're right that many don't distinguish.

KarinL

I can't see that picture well enough to know if it's more than one piece of wood or not.
I don't have time just now....and maybe my camera doesn't have the capabilities, but I have more than a few pieces of furniture in my house that contain huge slabs of solid wood...one board. They grew them big a few years back! I am using a table right now that is solid walnut....with a table top of one walnut board, 18 by 36....and 2 leaves 12 inches wide....another table has even larger boards...solid not veneer. The mahagony chest that my great great grandfather made has no veneer....the drawer fronts look like book matched veneer....but it's not veneer...it's solid. He didn't have the ability to do veneer.
I have a small oak chest that looks for all the world like it's made from one solid piece of wood...one board...but it's not, it's planked up but so skillfully done that you can't tell.
That cupboard with the round glass may possibly have veneer on the door, but I don't think so, mainly because veneer was done on high end furniture and I don't believe that is "high end". I think it's just a nice piece for ordinary folks.
Linda C

I doubt the doors are veneered. Like Linda, I have a lot of pieces totally solid. Most, in fact. And like she said large, large pieces of it solid. The base of mine is heavy and large and I would suspect it was veneered for cost containment to match the rest. There is no way you can tell it's veneered to just look at it because of the
way it is joined by mitering at the corners, it took a dog peeing on it to loosen it up.

If it is really from the 1930s (and I have no idea, I've never seen anything like this -the bottom is vaguely regency and the top is deco)...I would be shocked if it wasn't veneered.

Thank you all for your input ! When I posted this, I had not asked my husband about it. He seems to think the sides/base it is veneered. He is a carpenter. It's very hard to tell though ( by my untrained eyes, anyway)
I really have to clean it up a bit and take some other pictures of it and it's mate. I am in the middle of a renovation/move so it's chaotic around here.
I have not seen anything like it either.
Although, I did replace the bottom rings, they are nearly identical to the ones on the buffet. ( the stars are original).
I wonder who made it.