Posted 4 years ago
Im4anythin…
(91 items)
15 minutes from home brought me this early Mid to Late 1880's All Leather Barrel Stave Trunk with horizontal slats. Measures in at 34" Long x 19" Deep x 27" Tall. Unfortunately no maker label. It has a very sharp machined brass lock by Corbin ....can't find a date on it though. The leather is not bad but does have some small bites here and there nothing really major, it is very dirty on the top. The bottom oddly enough is not clad in metal its just painted wood. The top tray is long gone and is linen lined. The lid lift is a replacement, the original leather lift handle nail holes are tucked under the new one. This is why its placement on the lid face is sitting lower from what you normally see. Notice the large unprotected one piece leather on the ends of the lower body. I found this very odd, as I don't think I own a trunk that is without some kind of protective slats on the ends. Without a slat of some sort it is truly left exposed to all contacts, even of the most trivial bump, that can damage the finish, in this case leather. That being said..... these ends have doubly conquered the test of time and remain virtually unmarred. My favorite thing about the style of trunk, that is less than common, is the little concaved sweep of the top slats before it meets the outside edge of the lid. Hope you find it interesting........
Love the Trunk Tom ,leather is in good shape. Here is an earlier patent by Zecariah Walsh that may apply to the lock, it does have some similar characteristics. Corbin did buy up early patents of smaller companies.
https://patentimages.storage.googleapis.com/d3/79/b3/8ada0503cc8966/US89837-drawings-page-1.png
Below is a quirky yet interesting read about patent law and Intellectual property rights. Americans can thank Corbin Lock Co. and precedent setting lawsuits for.Enjoy!
https://connecticuthistory.org/the-corbin-cabinet-lock-company-and-patent-law-a-lesson-in-novelty-from-a-ct-perspective/
Love it Tom, maybe I'm missing something, why do you say early 1890's and not early to mid 1880's?
Thanks Drill for the love and info.. interesting read..
Hi Brian thanks for the love. I say early 1890's because of the back hinges only. I could be wrong as these seem to be much larger in size than what I normally see in this style. I will have to measure them and check for sure whats up. The thickness of the wood foundation makes me think earlier. What are you thinking??
Thanks for the love! EJW-54 & yougottahavestuff
The hinges might have come in different sizes? These do appear as a slightly larger size 3 nails top, 4 on bottom.
Certainly a popular shape of the times.These are the only patents that I
can find of the shape.
http://patentimages.storage.googleapis.com/pages/US362305-0.png
http://patentimages.storage.googleapis.com/pages/US407366-0.png
http://patentimages.storage.googleapis.com/pages/US460589-0.png
Always puzzling , All cast hardware except the handle holders, go figure.
They must have been laying around and the boss said," Use e'm up and save some money, oh yeah boys, leave the slats off the sides".It will be our new light weight model". My boss plays that game from time to time. I just roll my eyes.
Thanks Drill, Your F.W. Lowe is the one I readily see on many trunks I get, either in the regular or stubby size which has the 3 nail and 3 nail as you put it.. The regular size or most common long format in the 3 hump & 3 nail 3 nail top and bottom measures 5 3/4" Long x 1 1/2" wide as on this trunk. https://www.collectorsweekly.com/stories/274380-1890s-x-slat-dome-top-trunk--f-eggema
The ones on this particular trunk measure 6 3/4" long by 1 3/4" wide in a little thicker metal so now after measuring an example and this little exercise lol , I find I was right and also learned something.
You think it would be safe to say all three are from the same patent family from 1891. As you said before, a patent maybe used for a year or two ahead while the application is being processed to get the actual certificate granting the patent. This style of hinge I have used a lot to zero in on a decade of no earlier than. Sound about right??
I thought as well the handle caps were a bit out of place for sure, on a quality leather trunk.
Nice find! Awesome trunk & very interesting about the hinges for sure!!
OK first of all this style of hinge has been around Long before 1891, Probably late 1870's to right around 1880, just because you have a picture of something does not mean that that is what is being patented, without the written explanation of the patent, we don't know what is being patented here, Like I said this style of hinge has been around at least sense 1880, and I've never seen a patent date on any of these hinges.
Also the diagram shows a three hole pattern on the lower part of the hinge, yours has a four hole pattern, is it the same hinge or is it a different hinge? but like I said this style of hinge has been around before 1891.
Thanks for the input Brian...This hinge thing has bugged me for a long time. I would really like to sort it out if possible. I am planning on assembling for my own records the images of the hinges from my trunks. The known period of time hinges, on up, and see what I can actual find out if anything, by stepping back and seeing what it shows.
These few for example would be be a known early style easily recognized to a time frame. https://www.collectorsweekly.com/stories/273358-1870s-28-leather-and-zinc-dome-top-trunk
https://www.collectorsweekly.com/stories/252252-1870s-tooled-leather-strap-and-dowel
https://www.collectorsweekly.com/stories/244849-1866--tooled-leather-dome-top-trunk
Thanks again Brian everything and thoughts helps to create understanding.
Well this is the thing Brian.. is it the same one and just because its bigger they did 4 holes on the bottom. Perhaps and stand to reason such a thing would be. What specific attributes makes you lean to earlier. For me the thickness of the wood used points to earlier. As with anything, even today's items change to cut costs and the quality drops. Hinges from the thick steel like on this one to the much thinner easily bent newer ones in the same three hump style. How many foundation nails are used and the closeness of those nails is another thing that I have seen change. The more nails the more cost and time...etc. These are just a few things I have noticed handling these different trunks that seem to show a pattern of a graduating reduction on the quality / cost through the years. Thanks again.
https://patents.google.com/patent/US460589
Here is the link to the full patent description. Just scroll down.
It is an original patent not a renewal.
It appears as a stamped sheet steel hinge, as opposed to a casted hinge.
I have 80 trunk hinge patents from 1864 to 1950
I sure wish someone from the "Show Me state" could help find a patent (other than the three I posted above) to confirm an earlier date and fill in the blanks.
Ok , thanks Drill, this is what I'm talking about, Lowe did not patent this style of hinge, if you read the description he made an improvement on the hinge by incorporating stops on the hinge stopping it from going past a 90 degree angel, none of the hinges on any of my trunks that look like this hinge have the stops, I'm not saying it wasn't but its possible that it was never put into production.
Thanks Drill !! Now everything is clear regarding this hinge, and can as well, clear up my own self defeating ignorance regarding it...lol After reading this description of the patent, my hinge is certainly not this, nor any of my trunks have this hinge. This particular hinge basically has a small double bushing if you will with tabs, not much bigger than the pin, which amounts to a built in 90 degree stop when opened and or closed. Would be a great hinge, not sure why I have never seen it used. Thanks so much again Drill for bringing my issue to a close, and helping us all learn based on facts.
I guess you are correct there Brian!!! I have change the time frame accordingly, Thanks for your input much appreciated.
Thanks for the love!! kwqd , BigD338, officialfuel, fortapache, & blunderbuss2 much appreciated!!
Thanks for the love there Brian!! Also for helping pushing the envelope on the hinge issue..very helpful indeed.
Thanks for the love!! FatBoy64