Posted 8 years ago
Jady13
(1 item)
Hi all: I purchased this lovely trunk back in the 1980s. I'm guessing that the wallpaper lined shelf & interior (along with the added cedar) was probably done in the 1980s also. It's traveled many roads with me & my guess is that it traveled far and wide before me.
Dimensions are 28 inches wide x 19.5 inches high x 16 inches deep. Can anyone tell me a best-guess value on this?
It has both leather handles, yet one is broken.
Thank you!
Hey Jady13, nice looking trunk, the geometric design appears to be zinc or at least zinc coated metal,zinc has a dull bluish gray color to it, easy test, put a magnet on it, if it doesn't stick its pure zinc. pure zinc trunks are a little less common. if the metal on the ends of the trunk were black, it would really make your embossed metal pop, better contrast. In my opinion, most trunks, what I call common trunks, have very little monetary value, with the exception of a very few, Louis Vuitton is one , although I don't get it, there are ton's of them out there. I've always said, a trunk is worth what someone will pay you for it. most people that buy trunks, and are willing to pay a good amount of money for it, it's just because they like it. There are many things that dictate the value of a trunk, the maker, it could be the hardware, the lock, the size, the shape, the condition, I would say the rarity but everyone thinks there trunk is rare, but its usually not, my point is, that there is no hard fast number on trunks, its what someone is willing to pay. greendog.
Hi Greendog: Thank you so much for your response and feedback. You're right, it probably has more "value" to me simply because I love it. I worked in the rare coin auction field for years, so I well understand how demand (or lack thereof) can drastically change pricing. Thanks again for your response. I'll have to try the magnet trick, as I wasn't even aware that zinc was used. Do you have a guess on the age of my trunk by chance? Just curious. Thank you again.
The two latches on the front were patented in 1882, so it has to be 82 or after, but I would say before 1885, that's pretty close, if its pure zinc, probably earlier than later, they didn't use pure zinc to long as it was costly to make and use, it could be zinc coated which will hold a magnet. greendog
Thanks for sharing your wealth of knowledge with me, Greendog!
My wealth of knowledge, comes from my fellow trunk enthusiast shearing there wealth of knowledge with me, thank's to all of you. greendog
Love the finish on this..