Posted 7 years ago
Huskypupmom
(1 item)
This is a piece passed down through our family that we just received and I would love to know some history on it. There is no stamp or label there are four small wheels on the bottom, a place for a key but I dont have the key. Leather handles, intact full tray, trunk is 32" long , 17.5 wide, 21" tall. Any info would be great I would love to know as much about it as possible this is our only antique so we dont know anything about them.
Welcome to CW. A beautiful trunk. Used by a lady? Decorated underside of lid, with a J.W.Waterhouse print.
Hello, your trunk is a style that was made by many American trunk companies and usually called a cross slatted barrel top or round top trunk when they were new. I have a few old trunk maker catalogs that show these type trunks, from the 1890's to early 1920's. They were made for many years, but the original patent for the cross slat style and hardware was by Charles Taylor of Chicago in March 1880. The front latches were patented later in 1882 and used for many years. The metal covered trunks like this were mostly made from the late 1880's to early 1920's. It's hard to narrow down the age much more on many of them as they used the same hardware and prints for many years. Many of these do not have a maker label, so it's nearly impossible to tell which company made it. These trunks were used by men and women and the covered compartment on the right of the tray was called the hat or bonnet compartment. It looks like someone later fitted it with smaller compartments. I hope that helps some. Marvin ThisOldTrunk.com