Posted 10 years ago
redhornet
(1 item)
I am trying to find out more about this sea chest which I believe is from the 1800's. This was given to my parents in the 70's by a neighbor who at the time was about 90 years old and said it had been in her family. Her family name was Morton and lived in Fairhaven, MA. Fairhaven MA across the river from New Bedford MA is a seaport and in the 1800's -one of the largest whaling ports in the US. Herman Melville was inspired to write his book "Moby Dick" while visiting New Bedford. And Ishmael may very well have visited Fairhaven too. Anyway-- this must have been aboard a old ship at some time.
If anyone can give me clues on this, it would be appreciated.
The chest has a lock and we have the key it has a compartment inside which you can see in pics. It is approx 2 1/2 feet long and 14 " high.
It appears to be pine or oak?
Any input would be helpful. Many thanks!
Im certain someone will know more, I'm sure it is 1800's--it is gorgeous!
I would venture to say this was made after 1890. The pictures are fuzzy but the joints look very late 1800's or early 1900's. If the lock is original it may have been an officers chest. It isn't oak and I can't tell from the picture if it might be pine. Lots of these came from England and other places in Europe. Lots of their chests were made from camphor wood which would have this appearance.
This looks familiar in everything but the handles on the side. I searched the net for "skeppskista" and found some auctionadds that showed similar chests and the same type of handle (the wood part of the handle) and it said "skeppskista" which means shipchest. So I think it looks very Scandinavian, could be from Sweden or one of our neighbouring countries. The reason why I haven´t seen the handle is probably because it´s not an odinary chest but a seachest.
I´m not an expert on seachests nor chests. But if this would have been an ordinary - more common - chest I would have guessed you were right about the date, 1800´s (1800-1899). Let´s see what the experts say....
I think someone who knows more about the metalparts and if you could show what the lock looks like could tell you. I think that´s a better way to date it instead of the dovetailjoint alone because it has been used for a long time and I´v seen newer pieces with that as well.
Is it pine, oak would be very heavy and not so practical?
I love wooden chests, they are great furniture ! Good luck!
The joints tell a lot of the story and the picture is too blurry on close up to offer a balanced opinion. To be early 1800's the joints would need to be a bit uneven signifying made by hand. If they are all even and evenly spaced they were machined -- making it a later date.
I´ve just red fhrjr2`s answer. I also thought it might be early 1900's when I first saw it but I'm unsure. It could be that as well. A lot of sweeds emigrated to America late 1800-1920´s and I have that in mind when I see this chest. MA recieved a lot of sweeds. The chest looks very "nordic" in the metalldetails and shape and it looks like the chest folks had in their homes except for the handles therefore I lean more to passangers travel-sea-chest :) rather than captains...
Hi
Trunkman was right, and look to be this way, the dove tail are uneven, that's mean they are made by hand.
Now the worst part was it's look this was not is original top, the hinge are not allined with the box, when it's close,we don't see big difference in color, but when open,this not mach the oxidation of the bottom box, the bottom molding also are not original to the piece.
But the box was in my opinion, late XVIII,early XIX, and it's gorgious.
In the sud side St-lawrence, i use get trunk like this 2-3 for per month,it's look very familiar to me, let see what other have to say....to bad it's not Taper(narrow at the top, large at the base)
Alan
So closer clearer pictures needed of details on joints and metallwork is needed in order to date this properly.
Redhornet, its seams you will have a lot of experts to help you here :). Good luck in your research. I stick with the feeling that this is scandinavian. Have a nice weekend.
This is right,Elisabethan, in order to get better help clear picture are needed.
We are not, in competion here , we all here to try ours best, to help.
Alan
I know, that's great and what I ment Alan :). I just can't say anything more from these photos and maybe not even with better photos ;). Maybe it's a much more common style than I think?
If you break down what you are able to see. There are dovetails (pic 4) on the side and square finger joints on the front. The joints are tight but I would doubt they are machine cut. Craftsmen in Europe refused to accept machine cut joints well into the 1940's. They cut perfect joints by hand. There are nails in the joints and the hinges don't match up with the top. Dovetail joints never ever require a nail or glue, they are self locking and allow the wood to expand and contract with temperature and humidity. Quite obviously the piece has been reworked. That is to be expected and doesn't detract from it in a big way. The rope handle and wooden bracket are more common to Europe than the U.S.
Thank you all for your comments about the sea chest. I am sorry the photos were not as clear as would be needed in this case. I am going to take more detailed photos with not to the specifics you mention. The seachest is stored at my sisters so I will get over there and do some detailed photos and will post shortly. Your responses are very helpful.
I had one similar to this stolen from my house in Gainesville last year. Everyone please keep an eye out and let me know if you see one like this. Mine was not in good shape, pine, hand made, but looked quite similar to this one. Thanks!
Hi there,
Could you please help me. We inherited this exact hope chest except ours is black. and has a design on it. WE want to know how much these are worth and where we can sell it? Any help would be very helpful, than ks so much!!!
I had mine professionally appraised. Sadly, they are not worth as much as one would hope, in part because the market for this sort of antique is quite soft. Even with the excellent provenance mine had it appriased for only $600. The appriasers noted that those with original names on them can appraise for more.
Hope that helps.
thanks very much I appreciate your help and feedback.