Indo-Colonial Teak Armoire — Carved Pediment, Cast Iron, Glass Doors, Maker Marked

The appearance of centuries of repainting have turned this Indo-Colonial teak armoire into something closer to a painting than a cabinet. Layers of cobalt, violet, mustard, red, and green have built up and worn back to bare wood across the door stiles, drawer fronts, and stepped cornice. A nailed sheet-metal label on the back, handwritten and partially legible, references "DEPOT" and "ELPHINSTONE" — consistent with Elphinstone Road Station, one of colonial Bombay's principal freight hubs. At nearly six feet tall with a deeply carved broken-arch pediment, flanking wing motifs, and a crosshatch medallion at the crown, this piece commands a room before the doors are opened.

Inside, two beveled glass-light doors open to a paneled vertical-plank interior with one fixed shelf, and two shallow drawers with pressed-metal cup pulls sit below the case on bracket feet. Cast iron lever handles and escutcheons are original throughout.

CONDITION

Good. The case is structurally sturdy; doors hang and close, drawers operate, glass panes are intact, and the fixed shelf is present. The lock mechanism is absent, and finish wear is extensive across all surfaces with bare wood exposed at door stiles, drawer fronts, and cornice edges — consistent with the distressed-by-design character of the piece.

DIMENSIONS / SPECIFICATIONS

• Overall: 69½" H × 41" W × 20¼" D
• Top Shelf Interior Depth: 21½"
• Bottom Shelf Interior Depth: 16½"
• Doors: Beveled, glazed upper light with raised lower panel × 2
• Drawers: 2
• Interior: 1 fixed shelf
• Back: Paneled
• Hardware: Cast iron
• Lock: Absent
• Bob Ross (6'2") Shown for Scale