# Oak China Closet



## teaser52 (May 8, 2017)

Any one able to give me details on this type of joinery. It appears to be an arts and crafts closet with red brass pulls.


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## wuddoc (Mar 21, 2008)

It appears to be a variation of a drawer lock joint.


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## teaser52 (May 8, 2017)

Wuddoc
Can you elaborate on the joinery. I have searched a lot of sites on the web and have found zilch. What was the time period? How prevalent was this type of joint? What part of the country was it in common use? I am in the midwest and bought it at a yard sale about twenty - twenty five years ago.


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## RichT (Oct 14, 2016)

I think that is a fascinating joint. A typical drawer lock joint locks the front to the side in a way that prevents the drawer front coming loose due to the force of pulling the drawer open, something like this:









However, the sides can be pulled free without any mechanical resistance.

The joint you show can't be opened up either way, so the side is locked to the front as well as the front being locked to the side. It appears that it would have been assembled by sliding the joint together. In fact, the mechanical nature of it looks as though it would hold, even without glue.

Thanks for posting that. It's a beautiful piece and you are lucky to have found it.


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## JBrow (Nov 18, 2015)

teaser52,

I believe the joint is known as a sliding keyhole joint. It is a locking joint and may have been used prior to the advent of PVA glues since, as mentioned by RichTaylor, it locks in two directions.

Here are a couple of sites I found that briefly discuss this joint. From my searching of the web, you may need to travel to a library and look for references that describe the history of drawer construction for more information. My guess is this joint was used in lieu of the dovetail joint and may be a forerunner to the locking rabbet joint, which relies heavily on glue to stay together.

Second to the last photo pair at…
https://www.harpgallery.com/library/dovetails.htm

About 2/3 the way down the page at…
http://johnmarkpower.blogspot.com/2011/05/


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## wuddoc (Mar 21, 2008)

Attached is a scanned copy of a section on drawer joinery from Cabinetmaking and Millwork by John L. Feirer. The first edition is copyrighted 1967. This is scan is from the fifth edition.









I am unable to answer your other questions. Since you are in the Midwest you may wish to contact the Art Institute of Chicago that has a large period furniture collection.

http://www.artic.edu/contact-us


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