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gharvey927

Help Identiying Desk Date and Origin

gharvey927
12 years ago

Hi there,

I'm wondering if anyone out there can help me with info on this desk. I purchased it at a garage sale, and the seller told me it's a "1850's mission desk" that her parents received from a couple from California.

No builder or manufacturer identifiers anywhere.

Please let me know if any other pics will help. Thanks in advance.

Whitney

Here is a link that might be useful: Picasa Picture Link

Comments (8)

  • lindac
    12 years ago

    Uuh....not from what I see. As far as I can tell from the pictures posted it's a wanna be from not too long ago....
    Nothing that I see from the pictures tells me it's made that early nor that it's Spanish Mission furniture.
    Sorry....hope you didn't pay a lot.
    Linda C

  • gharvey927
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    Thanks for the reply. I didn't pay a lot. Can you be any more specific that "wanna be" from "not too long ago"?

  • lindac
    12 years ago

    It's something that someone made to look sort of like old California Mission furniture.....that is furniture made to look like it was made for an old mission....not that oak stuff in the stickley style.
    Not too long ago.....maybe 1960? Maybe 1980? maybe made in Mexico?
    Linda C

  • palimpsest
    12 years ago

    I agree, because even the insides and underneath are stained to look dark and it has one of those finishes that sits "on top" of the wood--it doesn't seem like a naturally darkened piece.

  • gharvey927
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    I see what you're saying. I know the seller, so I believe her that her parents got it in the 1950's...and it looked old then. However, it doesn't appear to be anywhere in the 1850's age...

    I appreciate the replies. If anyone else has any guesses.. or knowledge, thanks in advance.

  • lazy_gardens
    12 years ago

    There was actually a style called "California Mission style" that was ornately carved fake Spanish dark-painted. Popular in the 1920s with the California surge in movies, and Spanish Colonial houses.

    Nothing in the construction or style resembles authentic furniture of the California mission era.

  • karinl
    12 years ago

    Look at the hardware. There is an oldish looking bolt at the bottom, but the construction of the drawers looks quite modern to me. But if it is really old, the nails and joints would tell the story. I try to keep an open mind, but most of what is being said here rings true.

    Karin L

  • jemdandy
    12 years ago

    The external appearance is lovely, but the joints are simple ordinary, the type found in high school wood shop projects and mass produced furniture. Examine the nails used to fasten the joints. Are these old type, hand-made nails or modern type. If you find staples, you'll know these were machine stapled and modern production.