May Finale Auction: Private Collections Sale Closed (#28486661)

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Lot # E701

1930s Art Deco Waterfall Vanity with Mirror & Mosaic Tile Accent View Watchlist >

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Winning Bid: $165.00
36 Bid(s) View Bid History
High Bidder: Charlie10

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Lot # E701
System ID # 28607443

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Description

1930s Art Deco Waterfall Vanity with Mirror & Mosaic Tile Accent

A textbook example of American Art Deco "Waterfall" bedroom furniture from the 1930s, this vanity carries every signature of the style — rounded cascading edges, book-matched mahogany and walnut veneers, herringbone-banded inlays, and stepped reeded plinth bases that flow like water down to the floor. The arched shaped mirror is crowned with a carved acanthus shell crest and rides above a tiered gallery featuring a removable amber and gold glass mosaic tile panel (8" × 24") — an unusual decorative accent that catches light across the dressing surface.

The cabinet offers five dovetailed drawers, two flanking towers of two drawers each with a central knee-hole drawer below the writing surface, dressed in original cast brass escutcheon pulls with caramel marbled Bakelite inserts. The central drawer front is ornamented with applied carved scrollwork flanking a burl walnut cartouche. Waterfall vanities like this one were produced in enormous numbers by Midwest manufacturers — Northern Furniture, Joerns Brothers, Kroehler — between roughly 1935 and 1945, bringing Hollywood-glamour Deco styling into ordinary American bedrooms during the Depression era.

CONDITION

Fair and fully functional with honest age wear throughout. Veneer loss to the right side panel and to the upper left of the mirror frame; reflective silvering loss around the perimeter of the main mirror and across the mosaic tile insert (several tiles absent, others showing finish loss). A repaired break to the lower left corner of the central cabinet section is documented in supplemental images. Surface scratches, minor finish chips, and light handling marks consistent with eighty-plus years of bedroom use.

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