Posted 10 years ago
lanes15
(1 item)
I inherited this from a lovely old lady who died 30 years ago and it has been in my attic since. The story goes is that her father used it to transport his belongings to South Africa where he fought on the Boer War. It has the original key but I can't see any manufacturer's mark inside or outside the trunk. It is 90cm x53cm x 58cm. I'd appreciate aby comments on make, material, history and how I could go about resorting it. Thanks.
You came to the right site as we have experts in dating & restoring these.
Note that restoring it can lesson the value. Personally I think it looks great as it is. What is it that needs to be fixed on it? Perhaps some Howard's Restore-A-Finish Neutral color could help.
In the meantime it is a camelback trunk which was used by the more well to do. The raised top of the trunk made it such that it would be on top all the trunks in the cargo hold.
Trunkman should be along soon with some actual useful information.
A very nice late 1880's early 1890's barrel top trunk. A well made "high end" trunk. Unique on this one is the framing of the lock plate in the thick oak which is unusual. I would agree that there would not be too much restoration to do other than perhaps a refinish on the oak slats to freshen it up. I looks like it is leather covered but hard to tell. Old leather on these trunks are difficult to make look much better other than using a cleaning product for leather to get the surface dirt off and then to put on a protective coating. You could take all of the old leather or canvas off to expose the pine body and refinish it that way -- which many people do and like the results... I find this for the most part actually increases the value somewhat. Maybe down the road the next generation will curse us for refinishing these old beauties. At the very least a good cleaning with a damp soapy cloth may help. It is a very nice trunk... thanks for the post! (ps. the thing about porters not stacking these until the top due to its shape is a bit of a myth -- they just turned them sideways anyways.... it was just a design feature)
Thank you very much for all your comments I think I will just give our a clean with a soapy cloth and keep it as authentic as possible. If will be a lovely feature in my dining room. Thanks again.
Hello. Your trunk was made in Europe, probably Great Britain, or Germany. I would say late 1890's to early 1900's. Please see my newly added trunk info, and advertisements at http://www.hmsantiquetrunks.com/trunk-images.html
Jim
HMS Antique Trunks