Request for info about this dresser, please

OK, so I don't suppose it's old or valuable and it's not pretty but I would appreciate any information about this dresser. It looks like the top and bottom are an unsuitable marriage but does anyone have any ideas about the maker (no markings), the age or the origin. A puzzling feature is a front-to-back slot about 9 inches long and one inch wide in the base of the right hand cupboard. The slot goes through to the drawer underneath and am wondering what it is for?
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Welcome to the Forum, Mike.

To be honest we don't have many members, who buy furniture, so I suspect we aren't going to be able to tell you much more than you know.

I have to agree with you about it being a marriage and the top, although oak like the base, was probably added later. My guess would be the 1930s.

The base looks better quality but most of these pieces of furniture were made all over the country and rarely have any makers marks so even for experts it is usually impossible to pin the work to a specific maker. So made in the UK and probably fairly local to where you found it.

I think the base is earlier than the top but still probably 20th century and, as you are probably aware that it is a piece of furniture that is worth very little, being out of fashion.

I can't see the slot you mention. Is it in the photos?

Thank you for your reply and particularly for letting me know that these items were made all over the country. The last owner, since deceased, was believed to have come from Yorkshire so maybe that's its origin. With regard to the slot in the bottom of the RH cupboard; unfortunately I failed to include it in a photograph and I'm now 300 miles away so unlikely to see it again before May. It had been neatly cut, rounded at both ends, smoothly finished, and there were no indications that it had been added after manufacture (i.e. the appearance of the cut surfaces was consistent with the rest of the piece).

Thanks again for your views (and apologies for the overly large photos!)

Could it have been for the insertion of a rod to lift it?

Found this 17thC coffer made in the West Riding of Yorkshire with a similar panel to yours, so it seems the maker may well have been based in Yorkshire and copying earlier forms.

I cant say I know anything about furniture but Im sure SP is right for date.
going off the drop handles and the fact the barley twist don't all go the same way ie yours two to the left two to the right.

I do think it's a nice piece though and much under appreciated. Welcome to the forum : ) x

Thanks, all, for helpful comments - what a friendly lot! In this image I've made a crude attempt to illustrate the size and position of the mysterious slot in the 'floor' of the right hand cupboard. The illustration is supposed to show the RH cupboard door fully open and the RH drawer below the cupboard pulled open. I'm not sure whether its position would be suitable for the insertion of a rod for lifting and, of course, the slot is not repeated on the LH side. But thanks for the idea.
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Very interesting puzzle.

Ok, my guess is for a pull out zinc lined tin/bucket. Maybe a slop bucket. There could have been a fixing underneath so it could be unscrewed and removed, but which prevented the bucket from falling out when slid forward for use.

Yes the two pieces don't match. Late Victorian/Edwardian my guess.
Could it be a wine chiller? the drawer underneath to collect the melted ice?

Thanks, denby, I'm attracted by your idea!