Need Advice - How Much Would you Pay?

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madox07

Lifer
Dec 12, 2016
1,823
1,689
My wife and I are celebrating our wedding anniversary next month, 5 years married and 10 since we have been together. She was talking about it at an event this weekend and about agreeing to a budget for a gift for me. An antique dealer friend of ours over heared the ladies talking and figured he would suggest something from his inventory. Well ... since my wife is not really pipe knowledgeable she consulted with me. While I would hate to turn down a gift from my wife, the cabinet below costs EUR 250, and that's ... not a fortune, but we could do other things with that money. What do you guys think? Is it worth EUR 250? And since it is an anniversary gift, our friend that sells it offered a full restoration on it as well (he also owns a shop that restores furniture). One thing that is not visible in the picture is that underneath the small drawer, there is another large drawer where one could cellar.
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newbroom

Lifer
Jul 11, 2014
6,088
6,412
Florida
I dunno what I'd pay, but it is not something I've seen. Looks like it's made for a lot of Churchwardens.

Probably belonged to a church with a lot of priests, or maybe a monastery in a sect that allows tobacco.

 

madox07

Lifer
Dec 12, 2016
1,823
1,689
I think the top rings are for design only - as in symmetry with the lower ones on which the pipe stems rest, the space in between the bottom railing and the top is too high to accommodate church wardens. The dimensions of the thing is 44 x 64 x 122 cm.

 

sablebrush52

The Bard Of Barlings
Jun 15, 2013
19,630
44,855
Southern Oregon
jrs457.wixsite.com
What I hear in all of this is that you don't really want this pipe cabinet. I don't hear "Wow, this is cool, but is it worth it?" In your shoes I would probably suggest an alternative, something you both could enjoy, or a gift at a more comfortable price point. The price seems decent enough, but who cares?

 

jpmcwjr

Moderator
Staff member
May 12, 2015
24,570
27,077
Carmel Valley, CA
Pass.
I am not sure it's even made for smoking pipes! The stummel receptacles are too large and too far away from the vertical holders, which are also very large.
Something from a church to hold....??

 

warren

Lifer
Sep 13, 2013
11,700
16,209
Foothills of the Chugach Range, AK
That's a heck of a "footprint", apparently, for twelve pipes. And, it doesn't fit my décor. So, no I wouldn't buy for those two reasons. If you like it, get it! Not knowing the actual size, it is interesting and the price doesn't seem unreasonable. I think it would make a nice corner "pipe maintenance" table.

 
Jun 27, 2016
1,273
117
To me , that thing is not attractive & has weird, quickly-done details, and your friend is probably trying to dump it on you, since probably no one else will buy it either.

I am curious to know what it is really for. There are metal clips on the side. It looks like it could be for billiards equipment or something. If I wanted a nice wooden table, I'd keep looking for something else, with better quality & detail than that one. It looks like a desk stored on top of a table. Put it this way, you buy that thing, and you'll never get your money back even if you tried.

 

thomasw

Part of the Furniture Now
Dec 5, 2016
862
24
No for me. Much more functional and attractive pipe cabinet patterns are available; depending on the chosen woods, likely for that cost or less, too.

 

mso489

Lifer
Feb 21, 2013
41,210
60,433
I pick up what Warren says. That's too much space for the number of pipes it holds, so I think you'd end up supplementing with other pipe racks that would just look cluttered on this piece of furniture. Likewise, though there is drawer space, there is all that space between the legs that is unused. It's kind that your wife thought of you, and had the sense to ask you about this. I think for less money she could get you a rack or cabinet or combination that would take less space and hold more pipes and tobacco. This little table-and-rack was built as a sort of show piece, but it would take just the right owner and floor space, and isn't particularly flexible. So that's my input, but if your heart moves you, go for it.

 

warren

Lifer
Sep 13, 2013
11,700
16,209
Foothills of the Chugach Range, AK
The more I look at the pictures the less enamored I become with the item. The joinery is not particularly well executed. Those supports on the base are really poorly fitted. Is the drawer dovetailed? The bowl rests appear a bit too forward from the stem rests. If you are into "churchwardens" well, it'll hold ten I think.
Still, if you have an unused corner, in the basement, there is room for cleaning supplies, a glass of an adult beverage, and might be a good place to sit and clean recently smoked pipes on a quiet Sunday afternoon. But, it's still "butt ugly" to my eye. I'm not a fan of busy, "period" furniture. What period it is supposed to represent is not readily apparent to me.
If, I was to consider purchasing I'd try to get the price lowered by at least 50-75 Euros.

 
Jun 27, 2016
1,273
117
I'd like to know what it was used for. Someone might have replaced the top &/or added the stuff above the top to an existing ordinary table. It doesn't look very well put together from top to bottom, in any case. Hard to tell, but it might have a lot of veneer wood on top of cheaper wood on the tops & sides. The one side & the drawer-front in the pics are nice to look at, I'll give it that much.
The side reminds me of the mirror-image split veneer like you would see on Jag dashboards, if they still do that.

 
May 9, 2018
1,687
86
Raleigh, NC
I would agree with what a lot of the other sentiments on this one. It almost doesn't look like it was made to hold pipes, even churchwardens. I can't see a lot of them being long enough to rest against the rail. In one of the side shots, it almost looks like some of the finish is bubbling up, like it's gotten wet before and the material beneath the finish warped upwards and dried out that way. It does have a lot of room, almost like a strange design for open area, but it does have the drawer below. It's a unique piece for sure, but for the money, I'd have to pass on it. Maybe EURO 100, but certainly not 250 from my view. That's just my 2 cents. I could think of a lot of other things I would buy for that much dough. Your decision, but I don't think it's worth even half the asking price, FWIW.

 

madox07

Lifer
Dec 12, 2016
1,823
1,689
I have been reading all your comments with upmost attention, and I am really happy I have asked this on the forum. First off .. EUR 250 is a lot for something that would bring quite a bit of disappointment. After reading all your thoughts I have taken a ruler and measured a common rack that I use for my desk pipes, and the distance between the center of the bowl hole ant the railing is 5 cm. The distance on the in question cabinet between the holes and the railing is 15 cm ... so yeah, most of my pipes wouldn't even fit. Even though the restored piece would look a lot nicer, with velvet in the bowl holes, decaped top, re-topped and shellacked, and all the joints re-clayed ... I still wouldn't be able to use it unless I had an impressive collection of porcelain Tirol pipes and churchwardens; which I don't.
I must admit that I got a bit carried away and emotional about all this. I truly appreciate your input, guys, it saved me quite a buck... or EUR in this case :puffpipe:
sablebrush52 Yup, I don't really want this pipe cabinet, and thanks to all your input, I have good arguments in front of the little lady to tell her "no thanks, pass, let's go for sushi instead"

 

jvnshr

Moderator
Staff member
Sep 4, 2015
4,616
3,868
Baku, Azerbaijan
What I hear in all of this is that you don't really want this pipe cabinet. I don't hear "Wow, this is cool, but is it worth it?"
That's what I was thinking, actually that's how I buy new things. If I hesitate, I don't buy.

 
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