Renaissance Revival Cabinet - Rescue from changeing tastes.

I just acquired another Renaissance Revival Cabinet at auction last night. I have a weakness for these as I have three others already, but I have a particular fondness for this cabinet.  It is a near duplicate of one featured on this site in 2007 which is now currently owned by Lise Bohm.  My best guess is that it is by Pottier & Stymus or perhaps Herter Bros, although who really knows for sure.  At some point someone cut down the base by a few inches and removed the superstructure on top in what appears to be a 1960's style update/renovation, apparently in an effort to emulate more of a modern credenza look.  It will be a challenging repair effort, but I am confident that I can re-create the missing parts.  One has to wonder at what point does a piece cease to be an antique, and merely become a reproduction.  In this particular case about 1/3 of the piece will not be original.  Nevertheless, it would be a shame to leave it in its current state.  I am also intending to document the restoration process as I go along and share that with the group.

Michael

Michael, I have the same credenza weakness, though I only have made room for only one.  I would offer video editing help if you need it and are filming vs. photo'ing the resto (or both).  I'm no video genius, but I now consider myself able to cut the bad and transition the good.

you might want to peel the hardware off and look for a small "P.S."

Look forward to the process.

John

"One has to wonder at what point does a piece cease to be an antique, and merely become a reproduction."

I wouldnt worry about that, IMO, its still an antique. This sort of "remodeling" of furniture has been going on since furniture making began. Indeed, many american highboys of the 18th century were separated with the top becoming a chest of drawers with the addition of feet and the bottom, with the addition of a top board became a server or lowboy.

Thank you for your offer of assistance on editing the output of the restoration process John.  I may take you up on that, although it may be some time before I get around to restoring this piece as my time is currently taken up with home/pool/yard maintenance.  Hopefully as the summer progresses I will be able to get back in the shop and get busy on restoring the credenza.

Michael