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About Michael Andrew Wilson
Expertise
I will attempt to answer questions about European Antique Furniture and 20th Century Decorative arts and Design furniture, including 18th century & 19th century construction details, style, period and the craftsmen and manufactures that created them, I will also attempt to answer questions about buying European Antiques and how to become a expert collector, my speciality is French, Italian, English, Irish, Spanish, Belgium, Dutch, Danish, Swedish, German, and Swiss.

Experience
Since 1995, I have been, a professional art, antiques and design advisor and earned an unparalleled reputation for providing select clients: expertise in making informed purchase decisions for antiques and art acquisition from a wide range of categories and eras. Architects, interior designers, decorators, dealers, museums, collectors and private clients rely on me for a wide variety of services. I specialize in finding and facilitating the purchase of some of the most notable pieces in the market today. And because I know the market so well –including the secret locations where the world's best dealers purchase their stock – I are generally able to do this at a significant saving of both time and money. My service includes: creating collecting and acquisition strategy including organizing personally guided buying trips throughout the International art and antiques markets, pre-shopping research, sourcing, analysis of markets, documentation and expert appraisals, handling, shipping and delivery coordination. In short, everything my clients need to be assured of the most knowledgeable, reliable, and pleasurable sourcing, acquisition and collecting experience. My approach is to offer maximum transparency. You can visit my website at: www.mawparis.com

Education/Credentials
Moving to Paris in 1989, I worked, for five years as an Interior Design Project Manager for Polo Ralph Lauren where I helped to plan and open more than 60 Polo stores and showrooms across Europe and purchased antiques for one of Mr. Lauren's homes and as a result I oversaw the purchased over 30 million dollars of Art & Antiques, this experience gave a unique qualifications to understand the complexities of this market and gives me a rare insight into the professional antique & art market. I also have taught “Furniture Design and Style” at the IESA (Institute Arts Superior) in Paris. and have a personal archive of over 170,000 photos of Furniture and 160 hours of video of the major European art and antiques fairs including: Paris’s Biennale des Antiquaires , Maastricht’s TAAF , and London’s Grosvenor House. Some of these videos can be see at: www.thewilsonreport.tv

Past/Present Clients
I have a prestigious international clientele of noted business and entertainment figures as well as some of the word’s most important collectors, References are provided for serious enquires.

You are here: Experts > Hobbies > Antiques: UK > Collectibles-General (Antiques) > Antique Armoire Identification

Collectibles-General (Antiques) - Antique Armoire Identification

Expert: Michael Andrew Wilson - 11/2/2009

Question

Armoire

Hello, I just purchased this Armoire over the weekend at auction. Auctioneer said it was European. It's quite unique in that it can be broken down into several pieces including the base, the left wardrobe, the center chest of drawers and upper cabinet, the right wardrobe. The crown molding pieces can be removed from each of the 3 cabinets. The are also full width ornate finial pieces that go on the crown molding (not shown). The center final piece has what appears to be a carved half sun at it's center and it looks like it had an applied carving (that is now missing). The drawers appear to have handcut dovetails, 3 or 4 extremely small pins per drawer. All mirrors are beveled glass. The wood appears to be walnut to me. The drawer front wood is highly figured (having a tiger or curly appearance) and appears to be a veneer. The sides are flat panels. Everything that is not readily seen (back, top) is fairly rustic (not sanded or finished except for a hint of mustard color- might be due to a finish or due to the kind of wood the back is made of). I'd like to know more about this piece- when and where it was manufactured, etc.

Answer
This is an American made armoire it looks like it could have been made circa 1900 to 1920s but I need to see several close up photos of the carving in the middle center, the crown molding on the center top and a close up of the drawer pulls on the drawers so I can confirm my analysis.

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