charlie b wrote:

....
the circle and peg drawer joinery - it was
machine made - a production joint that, while
probably as strong as dovetails, apparently
never caught on. I asked about this joint a few
years back and was told it was only around
for about 5 years - in the 1860s as I recall
and developed and used by several furnitute
makers in St. Louis or Chicago for the west
coast market.

I DAGS and found this link
http://www.cpfmg.org/Articles/The_Knapp_Joint.html

My recollection was somewhat off apparently, the time frame being
somewhat earlier than I was thinking. I do believe it lasted a little
longer than the turn of the century that this fellow indicates based on
the fact there are a couple of pieces using the joint that were in my
grandparents home as new purchases when they were married which was in
1912. My pushing the piece to as late as in the 20s may be somewhat on
the "too late" side, however.

The piece looks like a mass market piece,
designed for production - integral cock
beading but just top and bottom of drawers,
not the sides, what may be stamped "carving",
shallow grooved dentil molding and rail
and stile glass door frames, the glass in
the doors show no wavyness so they've
probably been replaced

Very definitely a production piece...

Primary wood, as suggested in another
response, is probably pine but could
be cherry.

I really don't think it is cherry--one drawer front on the picture I
looked at (I don't recall which one) had far too much grain visible--it
was the one that made me revise my first thought of gum to the pine.

As for the finish - could be shellac.
Find an out of view spot and see if
denatured alcohol softens or removes
the finish. If it does, it's likely shellac.

That's also possible and in fact probably more likely given that there
was no sign of crazing as one would expect on a varnished piece of this
age...