Found an Unusual 12-Drawer Oak Cylinder Cabinet

[brianu]

I've never seen a cabinet like this before... the cabinet style itself has some really ornate features, and the 12 drawers are solid but very light and almost crudely made, although they're surely original and they all contain 10 cylinder pegs... so the cabinet would hold 120 cylinders total. I initially figured it might be something used in a store or dealership. but I was told by the person I bought it from that he used to have a post card showing edison in his laboratory surrounded by various things, including a cabinet identical to this one. might anyone have any further information on this, or perhaps have one or maybe seen something similar?

[gramophone78]

Brian,
I can't say much about the cabinet. However, I sure do like it. Congrats.

[Curt A]

Brian,
I can't say much about the cabinet. However, I sure do like it. Congrats.

Dittos... love it.

[De Soto Frank]

Very interesting...

Are the drawer bodies dovetailed or finger-jointed, or just lap-nailed at the corners ?


Notable features ( to me ):

Drawer bodies ( sides, back, bottom ): appear to be hard yellow pine

Pegs: solid wood. End chamfer is dfferent from peg to peg, suggesting a fair amount of hand-work.

Carcass: Quartered white-oak

Trim: "Egg & Dart" moulding is continued even on the "back side"... one would expect a piece like this to be placed with its back to a wall, and remain un-seen.

Neat piece.

[Phonolair]

I initially figured it might be something used in a store or dealership.

Interesting cylinder cabinet Brian, I haven't seen one before. It looks old but not a factory production piece. Maybe something that was ordered from the local wood working shop for a specific purpose.

Since it only has pegs for the cylinders I'm guessing it wasn't related to the selling of cylinders, as new cylinders would have been sold with boxes needing a different storage system.

Nice find, it certainly looks sturdy enough to display a phonograph or two on top of it.

Best Regards, Larry

[Brad]

Given the depth of the drawers and the appearance that the drawer needs to be removed to access the rear pegs, coupled with the anecdotal story of a picture of a like piece with edison, I would speculate that it may have been a cabinet to hold molds or masters.

Another angle, could it have been a re-purposed apothecary cabinet?

[Stephen_Madara]

It has a nice look to it and will work fine as a cylinder cabinet. I too think it was originally an apothecary cabinet or something similar. I attached a postcard image of one of Edison's labs that shows a similar style cabinet of the era that the seller may have been thinking of. steve

[brianu]

thanks stephen. maybe that's the postcard the guy was talking about, although from how he described it, I was thinking more of something black and white, from a photo, showing edison himself as well.

and thanks for all the feedback about the cabinet. it's definitely unusual. I'm still not convinced it's a converted apothecary cabinet, although you all may be correct... it's just that the ones I've seen have been much more substantial, larger overall, with many more drawers that also had a much heavier, more solid construction. this cabinet just seems like it was originally made for cylinders, considering how uniformly the pegs are mounted, how there's just enough space in each drawer for 10, etc. if anyone else has any thoughts, I'd love to hear.

[Valecnik]

Just speculation but I'm also not convinced this is a re purposed apothecary cabinet. Perhaps the design was originally for apothecary use and the same manufacturer diverted some of their stock to fit them "new fangled phonograph records"?

[gramophone78]

Just speculation but I'm also not convinced this is a re purposed apothecary cabinet. Perhaps the design was originally for apothecary use and the same manufacturer diverted some of their stock to fit them "new fangled phonograph records"?

Normally an apothecary cabinet will have metal id holders for paper label inserts that are changeable on the drawer faces. This allows the chemist to know what is where. Most apothecary cabinets have far more drawers than we see on this cabinet and are a great deal larger.