Posted 9 years ago
HillCountr…
(2 items)
Greetings from the Hill Country and thank you for your time and comments Trunkman! I was thrilled to see a response so quickly! The panels have a sort of "masonry" texture. I have included a more detailed photo of the inside at one of the ends. I appreciate your expertise and knowledge!
Hill Country Texas Mary
Thank you Hillcountry for the extra pictures. There are others on this site that have a much deeper knowledge of all things trunk related -- I hope they will be able to contribute concerning this piece. For my part I would agree that this is a nice trunk stylistically. There are clues about style, size and materials used that may indicate that it may have been made in the last 25 to 40 years as opposed to something turn of the century. These are my concerns with the piece and be advised that they are speculative -- so hopefully others can agree or disprove. The overall form and size is not typical of early made trunks -- particularly its length. The tin used to cover seems to be of a thinner grade (thicker grades of tin on older trunks) . The lock plate front is poorly constructed (looks great, has an old feel to it -- but the older ones usually did not display the joining rivets on the front) . The masonry exterior is not something I have seen in older pieces. Judging by the nails lifting out of the bottom it appears to be somewhat poorly constructed in comparison to its older counterparts. After spending a whole lot of time looking at antique trunks one gets a feel for the age of a piece -- and yours to me speaks of a not too distant construction. So those are my concerns regarding its age. If you happen to do searches and find any similar examples of an older trunk then I am open to correction. Again a nice trunk with a great look to it... and thank you so much for posting it -- it is eye-catching!
Thank you so much Trunkman for your honesty and clarity of ideas, and I respect your experience in collecting trunks! I encourage others on this forum to add or comment if you have time and interest! My newly acquired trunk is a beautiful mystery to me! Whether it be old, or not so old, I will love it for countless years.
As stated in the other post, I agree with trunkman. I'm pretty sure if that were any type of masonry it would have broken out putting all those tacks in around it. My guess is it's a type of resin made to look like old concrete.
There was a company named Razmataz here in Phoenix with seven plus stores that sold hundreds of old looking items like this. I was impressed when I first saw the place, they had all kinds of furniture, made to look like it was in a old castle basement for years. They closed up a few years ago.
It does look nice in your dining room.