Can anyone help me know a little more about this piece?  

I couldn't tell you, but I would suggest that it won't be devalued much.

"I knew that it was high quality. This buffet is heavy! "

--- not really. Weight has nothing to do with the quality of a piece. Lots of real Danish furniture is quite light. The weight comes from the particle board. The heaviest (pound for pound) piece of furniture I have ever moved was a buffet my mom got from home goods. It felt like it was made of iron!

"American of Martinsville" is a pretty regarded company in MCM

------ It's not really. at all...

"This is our first MCM piece."

-------- Congratulations! you've taken your first step into a larger world!

I am wondering a rough idea of what it is worth

--------- We don't do that here. If we did, there would be 1000 posts a day asking for appraisals! Try the Facebook MCM groups for that sort of thing!

".... I don't want to devalue it."

--------------- see Leif's response above!

It's got an awful lot of Mediterranean (or something) influence in it to be considered mid-century modern, even if it was made in that era. The general time in history and the actual style are not synonymous. And with all that veneer damage, it is not worth anything. So have fun with it! I think it would look a lot more interesting with the right paint job. Even just solid black would be a lot better.

So, who's the dude in the wife beater? I think that I know him. And what's in the fridge?

Best,

Aunt Mark

Dirtydisco,

American of Matinsville is an American furniture producer based out Martinsville, VA.

As you can probably tell from the responses, the definition of quality is somewhat subjective. Among the list of American furniture producers of the time, 1950s and 60s, A of M is upper middle class. Among the list of International furniture producers of the time, they would fall in the middle to lower class. They have a couple of furniture lines that would actually fall under the description "Mid-Century Modern" or "MCM". The four furniture lines that are most desirable for MCM collectors in the US are:

- the Walnut louvered front line (like this one: https://www.flickr.com/photos/kinzco/7405613666),

- the Walnut metal X and off-set metal pulls line line (like this http://interiordecorideas.net/coffee-table/american-of-martinsville-coff...), and

- the mahogany brass clad legs line ( https://www.etsy.com/listing/232736157/reserved-for-amy-american-of).

The mahogany 'bamboo'-front line has also become more popular since the whole Hollywood Regency design fad has become popular ( https://www.globalauctionguide.com/image-viewer/21846512)

Sorry, I am not sure of the actual names of these lines.

Unfortunately, the piece you have would not fall under the description of MCM, nor is it included in the any of the groups above. You do have a piece of furniture that was built like a tank, and will likely give you and your wife many years of use. Selling, unfortunately, will not fund your next vacation, and probably would not even pay for a nice dinner out.

In the early days of mcm, there was a blonde maple with walnut(?) knob/ pulls room divider cabinet with optional open shelves (see image link) designed by a Merton Gershun for AofM that shows up in higher end vintage modern shops. That was the only AofM piece I know that serious collectors will even give it a second look & it has to be in almost pristine condition to be desirable.

https://goo.gl/images/N1j9Aq

It is called the Urban Suburban line.

Good point, I knew I was missing one or two. I have seen just about all of the lines that I listed attributed to Merton Gershun at one point or another. I don't really do much looking into Merton Gershun or AofM stuff, because I care little about it, but I always considered those attributions rather dubious.

Clearly the one you posted was indeed designed by Merton Gershun.

I was going to update the earlier post...Zephyr beat me to it.

http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1952/06/22/page/179/article/new-home-...

That Urban Suburban line by AofM was the right look & quality early collectors of mid century modern were interested in during the mid 1980s.

Minimoma, I finally was able to read that news paper link. Very interesting, there are articles about Aalto, George Nelson, Paul McCobb, just an interesting snap shot of American design in 1952. Thanks for posting that.