Posted 13 years ago
jmeier
(1 item)
I purchased this gorgeous chest from an estate (auction pre-sale) for $60.00 in August 2009. The lady's husband, who preceded her in death, had been in the military and stationed in Japan, after the WWII I think.
There is some writing on the underneath side that I recall has a date in the late 1950's. I remember having the idea from looking at it that it may have something to do with having it shipped back to the States. There is also a small amount of Asian writing, I assume it is Japanese.
The chest is intriquitely carved on all sides.
I absolutely fell in love with it, though Asian design is not my style and I had no idea what I would do with it or even why I wanted it so badly!! I just thought it was beautiful!
It sits in my living room, which has more of an animal/safari type theme (totally does not "go" but I don't even care!), where I can see it every day several times a day.
Though I am fairly certain it is worth the $60.00 I paid for it, I have been curious about how much it is worth.
As you can probably see, it has quite a bit of "caked in" dirt and dust from all of it's years - particularly on the top. I started to clean it but it's a chore!
I did a bit of Googling shortly after I purchased to see what they sell for and I think I remember seeing that the Asian made chests are not cedar but I do not recall the wood.
Any advice you have regarding it's approximate value will be GREATLY appreciated!!!
Many thanks in advance for your time.
Joyce
Can someone tell me how much this chest is worth?
Does it look like something that was created for purchase within Japan rather than for the tourist trade?
Could you do a picture of the bottom so we could see the info there ? someone might be able to decode it for you....Just my point of view.....
Loaded a picture of the writing underneath. I think the date is 31-7-51. ??
I was just looking up the price myself. My grandfather brought a very similar chest home a gift. As a matter of fact, the handle is the same. He was in the Navy at the time. Probably about WWII.
my parents have this exact same chest... they have owned it for 35 or more yrs. Back in the early 70'S they were having a garage sale & someone seen it in our house & offered them 10,000.00, but they were not interested in selling it.Now 35 yrs later , just about 10 yrs ago, we had tickets for the "Antique Road Show " in Sacramento,Ca. my dad pulled that chest around for hrs,& we just knew we were gonna hit the big one. when we finally got it appraised they said it was only worth 300.00. boy was my dad heated!!! should have taken the 10 grand in the 70's...lol.. we still believe it to be worth more than they said it was,but i dont know ?????
These were popular souvenir pieces for soldiers, sailors and airmen in post WW2 Japan.
Similar chests are still sold today.
I think a couple of hundred dollars is fair value.
Its beautiful! I think it might be a George Zee. Copy and paste this link and look at this trunk.
http://www.antiquesnavigator.com/d-117735/george-zee-hand-carved-cedar-chest-trunk-antique-asian.html