The Cabinet in the Cellar
Cool and mysterious
One of my longtime goals, finally realized this weekend, was to dredge up the old cabinet I found last year in the basement at Dr. Hackley’s, get it upstairs and brushed off, and see what it was all about.
The cabinet is in two pieces, and it wasn’t clear until it was moved out of the cellar that the two went together. But indeed they do, as can easily be seen in the picture above, which was taken in the kitchen at the Hackley place. Note the old kitchen wallpaper.
For now, about all I can say is that the thing wasn’t ruined by its long stay in the basement, although of course such a thing doesn’t do a piece of woodwork any good. One picture was taken Saturday right after it was brought up, the other taken on Sunday after some cleanup. Note how much clearer the picture is that was taken in natural light than the (later) one taken in flourescent light. I printed out copies of each, and the one taken Sunday is too dark to be recognizable.
I removed the sheet metal that had been put into the left-hand door where the glass had apparently been broken out. There were boards nailed horizontally on both ends of the top piece, which were used to support sets of shelves that extended off on both sides of the top part of the cabinet. That leads me to believe that it was in the doctor’s office, as part of his official storage equipment.
It can’t be seen very well in the pictures, but there are pieces of trim missing on the top part. There was a vertical piece on each side, between each door and the outside edge. There is also a plain line on the right-hand top door (only) running from top to bottom, perhaps the former site of a thin piece of bead trim.
I’m working to find someone to restore the thing, and then I hope to make it a permanent part of the furniture in the Hackley house.
Posted by Brian Capouch on Monday, November 27, 2006