Deco tiki drinks cabinet

A couple of cities back, in another century, I lived in a giant, illegal warehouse loft with tons of space, and in that loft, I built a most wonderful tiki-bar, with novelty bottles and stools that looked like bongo-drums and pennants from defunct cow-colleges, and swizzle sticks from bygone eras and more besides. I no longer have room for anything of the sort, but I still find myself seizing up with lust when I see something that would have fit it perfectly, such as this stonking 1959 deco tiki cocktail cabinet, for sale on eBay. I tried to convince myself to bid on it last night, tried to think of a place to put it, but honestly, there's nowhere for it. Plus there's no way I could ship this from southern California to London. But still.

We are pleased to present this vintage George Zee Cocktail Bar for your consideration. Manufactured in Hong Kong, this gorgeous piece opens to reveal a spacious Cocktail Bar that is loaded with storage. There are four (4) hidden compartments at the sides for stemware. Double doors on the front open to reveal two (2) drawers plus two (2) shelf areas. The front folds down to create a counter space, and the hinged lid opens to reveal a large compartment with a removable bottle holder.
In addition to plentiful storage space, high relief carvings of a Bamboo design are found on the door fronts and inside the top lid. What a great piece to compliment your Tiki or Hawaiiana themed room! Made from solid Mahogany with a blond color, we date the piece to 1959.

GEORGE ZEE Carved COCKTAIL BAR CABINET Vintage TIKI HAWAIIAN Polynesian ART DECO

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awjt

Assuming the joinery is sound and there are no hidden gotchas, $2000 is a STEAL for that thing. Solid blond mahogany? Relief carvings of bamboo? Oh my.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100003281256405 Keith Harris

The style of the cabinet says “Sake inside”, but people who drink Sake should not have drink cabinets.
angrydroid

Sorry but that design just isn’t very “tiki” to any large degree. It is nice, though. Probably isn’t real mahogany.
- BunnyShank
  
  You’re right. Its more art deco chinoiserie.
- Antinous / Moderator
  
  I don’t really see anything deco about it.
http://thisisonlya.blogspot.com robcat2075

Has anyone ascertained the origin of putting numerals in parentheses after writing out the same number?

There seems to be universal agreement among people who should know that it is neither necessary nor useful nor required by any known law.

My own guess is that it extends back to the era of hand-copied documents but that’s just something I made up, I have no evidence for it.
carlogesualdodivenosa

Wow. I hope it has a “Dean Martin slept here” plaque somewhere.

And Cory, how could you resist? Four (4) hidden compartments?
http://artdonovan.typepad.com Art

I think the very pale color of the wood is going to make it difficult to sell.
I personally don’t find it a terribly attractive piece.
http://twitter.com/BonzoDog1 BonzoDog1

Looks a lot like the radio bars Philco produced in the 1930s.
http://www.johnjeanantiqueradio.com/radiobar.htm
daredelvis

Much rougher shape, but more elaborate.