Smoking Cabinet?!?

[didimauw]

It looks like the metal cigar rest/ ashtrays would open to dump ashes into those blue glass vessels. Which is a pretty cool feature.

But I don't see anything else that would make it purpose built for smoking. Kinda the opposite, in fact.

Total guess: but maybe it was a self service cigar bar at a club or something. Loose cigars in the vertical open cubbies, storage beneath?

That sounds like a viable explanation to me!

 

[shanez]

But I don't see anything else that would make it purpose built for smoking. Kinda the opposite, in fact.

It's hard to say exactly, not being able to examine it first hand, but the ashtray's look like they may have been added in their entirety. The wood holding the glass doesn't quite match they way it should and the holes for the metal look like they were cut in after the fact.

Maybe not built for smoking but it does look like it was repurposed for it.

The upper part was made for keeping something separate or sorted/organized and the lower part had something removable with cleats in the cabinet to hold it in place.

It's a really neat piece overall and definitely cool for smoking. I'm very curious to know it's original purpose. I doubt it was any sort of mail sorting or writing desk or it likely would have had some sort of fold down work surface. I almost thought it was something for the kitchen to hold dishes or whatnot but I'm thinking no. Whatever went in the bottom cabinet was meant to be taken out and used for its purpose and then put back and the top part was used to organize or sort either raw materials of finished product for whatever was stored in the cabinet.

I shall have to light a pipe and ponder. It is at least a three pipe problem...