Posted 11 years ago
Prairietrunk
(1 item)
Posting a few shots of the trunk that I am restoring,. The reason I chose to restore the trunk is due to the broken tray as well as the back side. In addition there were holes drilled into the lid to replace the original lock with a latch. Initially I thought this was just a plain trunk but after taking the top apart I see that it was a little more ornate than was the current exterior represents. When I removed the end pieces to the oak slats I see on the inside that there is a silver color so I believe these were probably nickle plated as that would have been common to the time. In addition you can see in one of the picture and the lower edge of the tin there is a yellowish silver flake barely hanging on. In researching the Internet I find that a common process of the time was Crystallized Tin. So I believe this would have been a quite nice trunk. I have not found anything yet on where it was made but currently have the top apart and cleaning and filling wholes would other wood product. I am sorry I failed to take a photo of the entire trunk before I started. Unless I find someone that is replicating the Crystallized Tin process I am looking at replacing it with some embossed Tin. Thanks all.
This trunk looks a lot like mine.
http://www.collectorsweekly.com/stories/100166-vintage-steamer-trunk
I can't wait to see it when you're done =D
I have a similar trunk that also has some remnant is the crystaling process, mostly gone . I would love to learn what you find out about possibly restoring the finish.