The first time I saw this dresser it was black. Really black, from the old furniture oil and probably just old age. Instead of a mirror there was tinfoil, shiny side out of course. And there are some deep cuts on the left top side. But it was love at first sight for me. It belonged to Wayne's Great Uncle and Aunt. I never ever thought it would be mine. Aunt Frances passed away first, then a few years later, at 96 Uncle Claude passed. Wayne was in charge of Uncle Claude's estate (not an easy job). When he got all the paper work and we began to sift through things, Wayne said your name is in here...Me? What on earth..yep I was left this dresser, tinfoil was gone. It's one of my most prized possessions. Uncle Claude & Aunt Frances were special to Wayne and I. They never had children. Most of their things went to other family members. I had the dresser refinished and the guy who worked on it for me said it was very old, and handmade. I know that Aunt Frances made furniture, she had shown me some tables and cabinets she had made. I'm not sure if she made this dresser or not but I like to think so, or maybe even her dad made it and that's how she learned the trade. Anyway, I love it!
The lamps on the dresser are antiques, a gift from my brother. Aunt Frances had a lamp very similar to these on the dresser every time I would visit her. The mirror is from an old dresser that someone brought into a glass shop where my brother-in-law worked, they wanted new glass, silly people. He said he immediately thought of my mirror less dresser. How about that! 
This is the piece at the top of the dresser. If you look real close you can see that nothing is exact, it's all hand carved. They may have even said 'whittled". 
The guy also told me this was a tell-tale sign of it's age and hand made construction. The inside of the drawers are "dove tailed". The boards are very rough, no electric fine sander was used on this baby.
This was also Aunt Frances' (it was white when it was in her kitchen) It too is handmade. I know she made this one, she told me. It was not left to me or Wayne, but the person has never come to get it and the attorney said it was ours! Even the door and drawer pulls are hand made. I was hesitant about painting it red for my house, but I just asked Aunt Frances to please forgive me if she didn't like red. She was a neat person, some folks said she was tough and hard to know..I never felt any of that. We hit it off pretty good. So thanks Aunt Frances and Uncle Claude. I hope my kids and theirs will one day treasure it as well.* sorry to be so long winded, but I was really trying to preserve this story for my children!
2 comments:
The dresser is great. Mom saw me looking at the red cabinet and asked what it was. I told her a red cabinet in your kitchen, and she said "hmmmm, I like that!". If it turns up missing......
I thought that Aunt Frances and Uncle Claude were neat people too!! It always amazed me that even when I was young that they still milked the cows. I remember asking you if I could do that all the time! I thought it was neat!! It also, amazed me to watch Aunt Frances make her butter. They way they all came out nice and round. I didn't much like the way it tasted, but it was fun to talk with her and watch her tell me how to churn the butter!! It made lasting memories.
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