This post has nothing to do with guitars!

[Lewguitar]

I've mentioned before that I'm a cabinet maker and for over 30 years built and designed custom furniture in Boulder, Colorado. I love New Mexican made Spanish Colonial furniture and have built quite a bit of it myself.

A couple of days ago I saw a chest for sale on Facebook and the asking price was $50. Yesterday I drove down to Delta, Colorado and bought it.

It's a very valuable piece of furniture that probably belongs in a museum! It's probably 200 years old and completely handmade using handtools by a highly skilled carpintero.

All of the flat wood was hand adzed into planks, and all of the construction is through mortise and tenon.

It's an amazing piece. I read through some of my books on New Mexican and Spanish Colonial furniture and found a few similar examples from the 1700's and early 1800's. It has a single opening in the middle of the top and this is typical of this kind of chest.

I have a few other pieces like this. The white chair is a handmade chair of similar construction and I have a second one too.

By the way, that's my dog Cody laying on the sofa.

https://imgur.com/uGQ1y81

https://imgur.com/Owg6mXI

https://imgur.com/82AFR0I

https://imgur.com/QunND3A

 

[bodia]

Pretty cool!

 

[Senor Verde]

Going to convert it to an amp cabinet? J/K! Seriously, that is pretty cool!

 

[Lewguitar]

Going to convert it to an amp cabinet? J/K! Seriously, that is pretty cool!

Nah. Gonna use it as is to store dog leashes and wet hiking boots.

Seriously, I could probably sell it to a collector and buy a Brazilian Rosewood PRS!

 

[dmatthews]

Amazing!

 

[jxe]

if you waited 24 hrs before opening that it wouldn't be all cracked.

 

[Lewguitar]

if you waited 24 hrs before opening that it wouldn't be all cracked.

Dunno what I was thinking!

Actually it's in stunning condition. The lid that opens still has the original wooden hinge pins.

I felt kind of weird after I got home because I got it so cheap.

But the people seemed to be very well off. Big house. Nice vehicles. Lots of land.

And all I did was give them what they asked for it.

 

[bodia]

Dunno what I was thinking!

Actually it's in stunning condition. The lid that opens still has the original wooden hinge pins.

I felt kind of weird after I got home because I got it so cheap.

But the people seemed to be very well off. Big house. Nice vehicles. Lots of land.

And all I did was give them what they asked for it.

Things like this always make we wonder about its past. Did it get to Colorado on a wagon train with a family looking for an opportunity for a better life. That kind of thing.

 

[jxe]

Dunno what I was thinking!

Actually it's in stunning condition. The lid that opens still has the original wooden hinge pins.

I felt kind of weird after I got home because I got it so cheap.

But the people seemed to be very well off. Big house. Nice vehicles. Lots of land.

And all I did was give them what they asked for it.

i wouldn't worry about it, i have overpaid enough for the both of us. often for things i didn't really want after i saw them. i've also given discounts to people after they have tried stuff out, and people who i should have thrown out.

 

[Lewguitar]

Things like this always make we wonder about its past. Did it get to Colorado on a wagon train with a family looking for an opportunity for a better life. That kind of thing.

Yeah, me too. We're not that far from New Mexico and there are old Spanish Trails around here. A lot of Spanish and Mexican influence. Many of the towns have Spanish names. It probably came up with a well to do Spanish or Mexican family 100 or 200 years ago.

 

[DISTORT6]

Nah. Gonna use it as is to store dog leashes and wet hiking boots.

It would also make one hell of a hotdog cart.

 

[Tucson Thump]

I've mentioned before that I'm a cabinet maker and for over 30 years built and designed custom furniture in Boulder, Colorado. I love New Mexican made Spanish Colonial furniture and have built quite a bit of it myself.

A couple of days ago I saw a chest for sale on Facebook and the asking price was $50. Yesterday I drove down to Delta, Colorado and bought it.

It's a very valuable piece of furniture that probably belongs in a museum! It's probably 200 years old and completely handmade using handtools by a highly skilled carpintero.

All of the flat wood was hand adzed into planks, and all of the construction is through mortise and tenon.

It's an amazing piece. I read through some of my books on New Mexican furniture and found a few similar examples from the 1700's and early 1800's. It has a single opening in the middle of the top and this is typical of this kind of chest.

I have a few other pieces like this. The white chair is a handmade chair of similar construction and I have a second one too.

By the way, that's my dog Cody laying on the sofa.

https://imgur.com/uGQ1y81

https://imgur.com/Owg6mXI

https://imgur.com/82AFR0I

https://imgur.com/QunND3A

Fabulous score! That is a real treasure piece.

 

[Lewguitar]

Fabulous score! That is a real treasure piece.

Thank you. I truly think it is.

 

[Alnus Rubra]

Nice grab Lew.

 

[aphantomvaper]

Did you check it for hidden compartments? Treasure map??

Great score for sure!

 

[DISTORT6]

Did you check it for hidden compartments? Treasure map??

Great score for sure!

You’re thinking it was Dora’s?

 

[sergiodeblanc]

You’re thinking it was Dora’s?

Don’t be ridiculous!

One Eyed Willie’s maybe.

 

[gush]

That is beyond cool!

We gave a stone mansion in Oskaloosa Iowa that has been turned into a B n B.

My point is, it's littered with a ton of mahogany. I'm trying to remember but I think the owner called it Mexican Tobasco Mahogany.??? Never heard of it and that may not be correct but I couldn't stop touching it. Beautiful to look at too.

Incredible building.

 

[Lewguitar]

That is beyond cool!

We gave a stone mansion in Oskaloosa Iowa that has been turned into a B n B.

My point is, it's littered with a ton of mahogany. I'm trying to remember but I think the owner called it Mexican Tobasco Mahogany.??? Never heard of it and that may not be correct but I couldn't stop touching it. Beautiful to look at too.

Incredible building.

I haven't figured out what this is made from. The panels are flat but the surface shows every tool mark and it looks like it was chiseled flat. Marks like an adze would leave. The piece is not extremely heavy. It's fairly light but it's not pine. It does have a reddish brown color like mahogany that I can see where one of the tenons is chipped. I was thinking maybe cedar? Wonder what Mexican Mahogany is? I'll look it up.

 

[Lewguitar]

That is beyond cool!

We gave a stone mansion in Oskaloosa Iowa that has been turned into a B n B.

My point is, it's littered with a ton of mahogany. I'm trying to remember but I think the owner called it Mexican Tobasco Mahogany.??? Never heard of it and that may not be correct but I couldn't stop touching it. Beautiful to look at too.

Incredible building.

There is a species of wood named Mexican Mahogany and it's a true mahogany. The trees are up to 200 feet tall and 6 feet wide. Big tree! It grows in southern Mexico. I wonder if that's what this is. Doesn't seem heavy enough but it does look like mahogany. Mexican mahogany is related to Honduran Mahogany which is what guitars are made of. PRS and Gibsons are made from Honduran mahogany.