Bay Colony Antiques is proud to offer for sale this wonderful late 19th / early 20th century antique 10 drawer flat file cabinet / type makers cabinet by Hamilton MFG CO. Hamilton MFG Co was founded in 1880 by Edward Hamilton and began by making wood type for printing until they noticed a shortage of capable type cabinets needed in a press room. In the following years they also created furnishings for medical offices, dentists, and various other niche uses.
The market for premium antique oak office furniture has reached an all-time high as a growing number of Americans are now working from home and requiring the best cabinets and filing systems for their office spaces. We have always sought out the finest antique oak office furniture for our clients and have noticed the task of sourcing similar printer's cabinets to replace previously sold counterparts as an increasingly difficult challenge against national demand. We foresee the day where these cabinets are simply not attainable as the best ones will have been taken off the market and as value continues to increase owners will be unwilling to part with the cabinets that they own. Architects and artists have always been our primary client base for these cabinets for the past few decades but today we find that film production rentals and individuals with home offices are becoming the most routine customers and that demand is clearly far outpacing availability.
Those familiar with these cabinets will know these were made in a number of different sizes and drawer quantities. We rarely encounter these smaller examples with 10 drawers. Its diminutive size is not only unusual, it allows for more versatility in decorating. We have this in our office at the moment with our printer on top of it and it’s very useful in keeping organized. The grids inside of each drawer have been removed so the drawers can be used at full width. Each drawer is fitted with its original Hamilton bin pull and actuates smoothly. The cabinet has shallow incised carvings flanking the drawers and has double paneled sides. The cabinet retains its original metal Hamilton tag reading “The Hamilton MFG CO, Two Rivers Wis”. The cabinet is in exceptional condition with our only notes being very minor surface wear & the top two drawers were likely replaced at some point in the cabinets life as they have a slightly different design with a bead along the top edge. The top two drawers have red felt placed inside of them with usable dimensions of 14 3/4” wide x 15” deep x 1 1/2” tall. The remaining 8 drawers have useable dimensions of 15” wide x 15” deep x 1 1/2” tall. We have attached two collage pictures to this listing showing each drawer interior. The overall dimensions of the cabinet are 21 1/2” wide x 20 3/4” deep x 24 3/4” tall.
