This is a curiosity.
While antiquing at one of our favorite way-out-in-the-country stores, we ran across this. At first glance it appears to be a Globe-Wernicke stacking cabinet. The finish, shape, and metal banding on the side all point that direction, but a few things don’t add up:
There are no markings on it that I have found so far.
It is 41.5 inches wide instead of the standard barrister bookcase 34 to 36 inches in width.
None of the half-dozen antique barrister bookcase catalogues I have seen show any pieces with sideways sliding doors.
The feet are definitely not original. Cool, but not original.
What to make of it?
One of our friends, who knows a lot about antiques, thinks it was part of a stacking hutch. I haven’t had any success confirming their suspicion, but Globe-Wernicke did make stacking filing cabinets that were 41.5 inches wide. They had a wide variety of configurations with different types of drawers. They even had a stacking secretary desk unit.
For now, it is just a cool addition to our collection. I’ll update if I ever find out anything more.
UPDATE: I found a 1907 Globe-Wernicke filing cabinet catalog with drawings of the double door units. It doesn’t list leaded doors as an option, but they could have been phased out by then or have been a later addition.
