Posted 6 years ago
Elisedont
(1 item)
Believed to be 1880's . Alligator embossed. horizontal slats. No indetifying markers. looking to to restore/ get back history. would love any advice/ information.
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well the alligator tin was patented in 1885 and 1886, which puts it mid to late 1880's the cross slat design was patented in 1880 and was more common through the 1880's but the horizontal slat trunk was still made by some trunk company's, without a label or any trademark hardware very hard to say who made the trunk as this style was made by many of the trunk makers of the day, greendog.
Thanks Greendog! Do you restore trunks for others? if so on average what do you charge if you do?
I do, for this trunk your looking at a starting price of 800 dollars, depending on the level of restoration your looking for, greendog.
Was it common practice to have no identifying marks on the trunk? I know this trunk has image on the inside like most, should that be of any help? i've hit a dead end. I have managed to find out that the oldest known owner of the trunk was born and lived in boston MA on December 7 1898. Would this mean most likely their parents would have owned the trunk prior ?
It was very common for trunk makers not to use labels, most trunks that don't have labels and have no identifying hardware such as a Martin Maier or Romadka Brothers, its impossible to say who the maker was, a dozen trunk makers could make trunks that all looked alike with no way of telling who made them. lithographs in trunks were purely for decoration and were random, dozens and dozens of trunk makers used the same lithographs, there's no way of telling who owned the trunk without written documentation, the trunk was probably relatively new in 1898 within a few years. For the most part, unless you have a very rare trunk, its irrelevant who owned it, where it came from or exactly when it was made, trunks are full of mystery's and most we will never know. greendog
Very nice alligator tin trunk. Love the double locks. It should restore well.