Posted 11 years ago
intellimin…
(1 item)
My parents found this trunk on ebay and bought it for me for christmas about 5 years ago.It came with no keys and while they searched for keys to go with the trunk they came across a collector who tried to help them find the keys,but none could be found.The collector said he had never seen a trunk like this and now I'm trying to see if anyone knows anything about this trunk on this website for curiosities sake.It has "star lock works Philidelphia" and that one key would open the two locks simultaneously.There was patent dates that read "9 May 54,Feb.67 May 58 and Nov. 70" on the middle piece.The trunk is about 36 inches wide,28-30 inches high,and about 22-24 inches deep.
Love the quality. The way the star rotates to expose the key-hole just accents the quality. Where are you T-Mon? You're going to love this one.
Was this refinished when you got it? Nice job.
I'm not sure if it was refinished or not and the previous owners knew nothing about it as it was given to them by a family friend.
Wow -- fabulous trunk. Most likely originally covered in leather -- the wood gets a red hue from the leather over time. If you look closely you should be able to see remnants of leather under the slats where it was cut out. The brass slat clamps and of course that stunning lock really makes this trunk stand out. It would have been the highest quality trunk of its day. I have seen similar styles but the high end finishes are unique to this one. Nicest lock on a trunk I have ever seen. The latches seen similar to a Martin Maier trunk design -- this might be one of his. Hard to say definitively without a label or a marking on the hardware. Premier trunk -- they do not come any better. (with the exception of oak slat trunks) Thanks for the wonderful post!
That's amazing! Thank you so much! Would you happen to know around what time era this trunk would have been used? I'm not anywhere near an expert,but I guessed 1800's.
Of course the earliest date would be the 1870s as stated on the lock -- looks to be from late 1870s to early 1880s.
Beautiful trunk! That would be a great Christmas present.
i agree with trunkman on the possibility that at one time this trunk did have a leather covering -- usually high end trunks such as this one with the leather coverings where made my crouch & fritzgerald out of new york, new york - a good lock smith should be able to make you a key for this trunk -- cost could range anywhere from $20 to $50 -- this type of lock is more commonly seen on the jenny lind-style trunks (1850s to 1865) -- i would guess your trunk to be a little later -- perhaps around the early 1970s --very nice trunk and very nicely refurbished
epson233 -- early 1970's you say? Vintage but not antique? Love the typo:)! I agree now that I look a little closer -- early 1870's.
yes i seem to be transposing quite a few things -- gave you credit when it should have been trunkermarvin on another trunk posting -- will try and remove my foot my mouth -- thanks for the correction
Hello. A little info. Those latches were patented by J Arnold in 1873, and I would place that trunk near that date (after). All the Gold on that trunk is paint on cast iron, except the lock, which was made by Star Lock Works, and is brass. (You can check the other parts with a magnet). In all of my trunk catalogs the "highest quality trunks" are always the Sole Leather trunks. I personally like this style better, but Sole trunks were twice what the others were. Latches have nothing to do with who made a trunk as most all trunk makers bought their hardware from companies such as JH Sessions Trunk Hardware. This lock was usually on trunks just like this, never on a jenny Lind style. The geometry is wrong for a JL, and this lock was made at the end of the JL era (around 1870) Lastly, enough with the Crouch and Fitzgerald was the best trunk made. They were not. C&F trunks were fairly plain, and nowhere near as nice as this trunk. There were THOUSANDS of trunk makers who made millions of trunks, and C&F was just one of the players.
HMSantiquetrunks.com
What is in the compartment on the lower right of the back view? The one with the Slide Latch.