"When the cat's away, the mouse will go antique shopping..."

      That's right!  The "cat" being the Lord of the Manor.  He is up and away to his oldest son's wedding on the west coast while the  little grey mouse stayed home to prepare for an important art event coming soon..  No problem. All work and no play makes Jeri a dull mouse... so I HAD to take a wee break and visit our local Antique shop. I found a treasure.

It was a little rough around the edges

 and had a lot of parts

 but with a little Murphy's Oil soap and some Linseed Oil

 all will be as it should.

See what I mean?!

 

The little drawer handles are perfectly wonderful, and only need to be cleaned.

and there is the faintest of text on each drawer....

In some spots, the words are barely discernable because of the rust.

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 By carefully applying a thin coat of poly-u, the words begin to magically re-appear;

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On the back of the box..

 

and on the drawers.

 

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Assorted Colors

 J&P  Coats

 Spool Cotton for hand & machine sewing

BLACK

 I did have a devil of a time trying to figure out the 5th drawer. But it should say

"Best Six Cord"

and the 6th drawer plate, which should say WHITE is missing.

All referring to THREAD.

I am sure some of you will know exactly what this is.

This is a spool cabinet.

 In 1877   J.P Coats,  began producing spool boxes from a factory in Rhode Island, to be placed upon country store counters. Merchants who carried the thread received the box for free. It was a great marketing tool and these cabinets were a staple in General Store counters across the land. The history of this Cotton Thread company is interesting if you are a needle woman.  The  Clark Mill began producing cotton thread  in Paisley, Scotland in 1812, when Napoleons blockade stopped the importation of silk thread to Britain from India. Following the success of the Clark mill, a local weaver,  by the name of  James Coats, used his vast knowledge of fine yarn twisting to apply to the thread market. His business also became quite a success. Upon his retirement in 1830, his two sons, James and Peter, took over the company, which became J.&P. Coats. Next, John Clark invented a spooling machine which wound the cotton thread onto small wooden spools.  Both companies brought their goods to the American market and thrived under their separate labels... "CLARK"  and "J&P Coats". Until, in 1896, when  the two companies merged to become "Coats and Clark", a name all needle-workers know so well.

 Have you ever wondered what the O.N.T. means on the spool? It stands for Our New Thread.

 Knowing the history makes it even more interesting that I  have used these threads all my life:  just think, in business for over 200 years!

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That is what makes  antiques so fascinating, they are not just objects, they are part of history and heritage.

I would love to be able to date this piece using the walnut wood, ornate spindles along the corners and the unusual little drawer handles as clues. The text on the drawers was done on a metal plate; I know that the later cabinet's drawer labels were painted on glass and often made of oak. I am placing this piece as an early one, maybe 1877-1880's. If any one else knows how to determine the age on these, please let me know.

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   I've seen these cabinets in nearly perfect condition, but I enjoy a piece that REALLY shows it's age..missing handles, missing metal text plate on bottom drawer, scratched and worn, sorta like me. I did not want this to be perfect, I prefer all the flaws; (and I didn't have to pay much for this either!)

   I have yet to decide it's use in my studio, for the time being I am just thinking about all the possibilities and stuffing little body parts in the drawers.

 It certainly belongs in my studio along with many delightful objects!

  Oh, and by the way, although I could not attend my step-sons wedding, I did send a lovely gift via my husband...

 This is our copy of my original Scherenschnitte, but I made an additional cutting  for our son
 and his bride with a different message written inside the heart...just for them.

Fondly, Jeri