OT Looking to find out what this bar was made from.

[swamp dweller]

My wife and I have been looking for something different than the usual barrel for a bar in our camp. She found the bar in the attached pictures and we brought it home. Definitely not a whiskey barrel and obviously something made by adding the top and back to an old something. My question is what was that old something the front is made from. The front is a complete piece with all the banding attached and solid. The protrutions from each end add to the questions. Im fascinated by the look of it but can't stop wondering what it is and what is was used for. Any ideas?

 

[Rickyb]

Cast iron. Possibly heavily patina’d bronze. Bar protrusions are most likely l
tenons to fit a mating bar section or wall.

 

[swamp dweller]

Thanks for your input but I don't think it was always a bar. The side boards and top are much newer wood and the shelves inside are new also. I think the front part with the bands and protrusions was something else and was made into a bar. I like the idea of the protrusions being tenons to fit into something else because there are little hooks on both ends where the tenons are. Maybe an old shipping or storage vessel?

 

[Mr.M]

An old steam trunk side and lid is likely the source based on my extensive 3.2 seconds of research

 

[William Ward]

Manger

 

[RC Mech]

I believe it’s the stern of an old old wooden ship…

 

[Joe Gwinn]

Dimensions and weight?

 

[rons]

Looks like the side of a British vessel from the day when they ruled the seas.
Would look real neat if you cut a square hole in the center and stick a ten pounder out the hole.

 

[Thunderjet]

Looks kind of musical. Like maybe a piece of an old pedal style organ, or piano.

Just spitballin'

 

[fciron]

Wrought iron, not cast. Dashboard or tail gate from an wagon is my guess. Lots of that stuff being imported from parts of Eastern Europe and Asia

 

[swamp dweller]

Dimensions and weight?

52”wide X 41” high X 24” deep. Heavy, at least 150 lbs.

 

[EPAIII]

My first thought was a front grill from a wood fire place.

antique fireplace grill - Google Search

But I like the other suggestions too.

 

[M.B. Naegle]

Not a clue, but IMO it doesn't look like it was cut from a larger section of something, but was it's own panel from something else. I'm with the above suggestion that it's the dash from an old wagon.

I think the "artsy" trend of seeing new things in old unrelated things is fairly modern (1950's and on), but repurposing things goes back to the stone age. IOW, I think someone used it in an effort to be frivolous, or the old thing was somehow memorable and turning it into a "bar" played into the memory. With the exception of people drawing on Roman and Renaissance times, it wasn't common to have nostalgia about common things that didn't involve you.

 

[cyanidekid]

looks way too heavy to be a dashboard, I think the lugs and slots tell the story that this was part of something heavy duty, but obviously decorated.

how thick are the staves?
are the lugs solid iron?

I'm leaning toward ship part.

 

[rons]

If you look closely, there are extrusions from end. Those are legs for a segment of a side of old furniture.

 

[Joe Gwinn]

52”wide X 41” high X 24” deep. Heavy, at least 150 lbs.

So, 30 cuft (the bounding box, which is not full of material) weighs 150 pounds, or five pounds per cubic foot. This is roughly the density of Balsa wood,

 

[swamp dweller]

looks way too heavy to be a dashboard, I think the lugs and slots tell the story that this was part of something heavy duty, but obviously decorated.

how thick are the staves?
are the lugs solid iron?

I'm leaning toward ship part.

The staves are 1-1/4" thick and the lugs ( I assume you're referring to the protrusions on the ends) are wood wrapped with the metal banding. The top ones are 2" thick and protrude 6" and the bottom ones are 1-1/4 thick and protrude 5". The top ones have a 1" dia. blind hole half way thru them. I will post some more pictures when I get home this afternoon. Thanks for the input. Lots of good directions to explore.

 

[strokersix]

Looks like a functional element from a combine harvester. Maybe. Just what came to mind. I would bet it's from an agricultural machine of some kind.

 

[swamp dweller]

Here are some more pictures with better detail. Also the banding is magnetic.Bronze was mentioned earlier.

 

[Joe Henderson]

What does the back of it look like?