[Eliot Ness]

Sorry Bob, but that is either a very poor refinish, or as you suspect someone slopped on some shellac or something; you don't see drips and runs like that from the factory.   If it is just shellack you can try some denatured alcohol to remove shellac without damaging any original lacquer underneath.  Unfortunately judging from the dark splotches I think you'll need to do a strip and refinish.  The good news is the cabinet looks pretty solid so it should be fairly easy unless that is polyurethane on there. Good luck!