A weird thing I saw at the historic hotel in Galena

I was on a trip last weekend and stayed at this old hotel in Galena, Illinois. I couldn't stop looking at the built-in cabinets in the lobby, they were these huge, ornate things. The weird part was the drawer fronts, they had this crazy, wavy grain pattern that looked almost painted on, but it was real wood. I'm pretty sure it was some kind of crotch mahogany veneer, but the way they bookmatched the panels was just wild, you don't see that level of detail much anymore. Has anyone else run into a historic piece that used a wood figure in a way that made you stop and stare?

2 comments

2 Comments

nancy_davis3d ago

My grandma's house had a dresser with that same wild wood grain. It looked like storm clouds or something. I mean, they really knew how to pick the wood back then.

the_charles3d ago

Remember seeing a dresser like that at a flea market last year. The grain swirled all over and it had these old glass knobs. I just gave it a light sanding and used some oil, didn't even paint it, because the wood was the whole point. It's crazy how much character a single piece of wood can have... makes you wonder about the tree it came from.