More Furniture

Painted German Dresser

I say this is German as opposed to Mennonite as, I believe, it was constucted prior to the major Mennonite migration to Manitoba. Dovetail constuction throughout - both drawers and frame. Forged (as opposed to cut) square-nails used to hold back boards to body.

Blue Pie-Safe

I love this little blue pie-safe. I call it a pie-safe as there is a small hole, about 6" x 6", in the back that is covered with punched tin. The sides are dovetailed to the top and bottom, and the raised panel doors are put together with wooden pegs. In rare blue paint.

Red Pine Table with Applied Strip in Yellow

Likely another Ukranian piece. Bird's book has pictures taken in Russia in the 19th Century of similar tables. Here the frame is put together with square nails. If this table were Mennonite it would be less decorative and likely more solidly constucted without the use of nails.

Ukranian Washstand

This is a small washstand in original blue paint. Notice heart cut-outs at base and raised panel doors. Very decorative yet constucted with wire nails (post 1890's). Nail constuction leads me to believe it is Ukranian.

This is a small sample of my collection of Ethnic Canadiana. What I love about this stuff is how immigrants arrived in Canada with usually nothing more than a box or chest from home. They then constucted furniture based on how their parents and grandparents did it at home. I have a very unusal yellow Ukranian table that I use for a desk. This table has very primitive cabriole legs. This is a leg style that the French adopted from Egypt. From there the leg style made its way to the Russian Court. From the Russian Court, over time, it found its way to the peasants of Russia. Some of them immigrated to Canada and brought that furniture motif here. So in the case of my 'desk' a farmer constucted a kitchen table for his family out of a 32" wide 1 1/4" thick single (Canadian) pine board, he then put it on a base that was constucted out of 2 1/2" pine boards and decorated it with these Cabriole legs and painted it yellow - damn - very cool. I'll add a pic sometime when my 'desk' is clean.