Posted 4 years ago
Im4anythin…
(91 items)
Saw this one last year and was finally able to acquire it. It is certainly one you don't see very often. An 1870's - 1880's ornate barrel stave Trunk. It measures in at 39" Long x 23" deep x 32" Tall .....it's a big one. Missing top tray but lower is present. I don't think they had any space left to put more cast trimmings. It has loads of attributes of a fine quality trunk.. cast trims everywhere, extra detail nail work everywhere, extra detail metal work everywhere, nice large fancy sessions shoulders and hinges & Rare handle caps which is nice to see. Even though it has these 90 degree hinges with stay, they still felt compelled to use and interior lid support, probably because of its size. A ton of effort went into this one for sure. I am very pleased to be able to share it with you guys and gals ... I hope you like it as much as I do!!
WOW Tom, that's a nice one, yeah latches are 1878 so your right in the ball park, love it! wish it was mine, LOL.
Thanks Brian!! Much appreciated!! I fear anything I find now, after this one, will seem to be substandard...lol. I hope that's not the case though. Thanks as well for the love!!
Thanks for the love there..Mrstyndall, fortapache & bjb5859 Glad you like it and to be able to share such a crafted example from the early years.
That's a great trunk in every way Tom so glad that it is in good hands. I agree it does resemble The Schmit Brothers trunk that Kathy Kay posted, Having said that, there were other makers that I have advertising/ labels for that could have made it as well. Makers like P.C. Murphy 1879 St.Louis, & Fond Du Lac ,(D.C.& J.H. Lang Wisc.) Below is a link to Hossfeld Bros. Wichita Kansas Advertising 1886 Page 2 , (Just scroll down a page or two) that has an image of a similar trunk as well. This should give you hope that there are others this nice out there to find, keep up the hunt.Fantastic find!
http://mhgswichita.org/Wichita-City-Directory-1886-Introduction-and-Advertisement.pdf
Hey Drill Thanks for the input.. I can't really see the trunk close up as I can't zoom in on book images I guess. I will poke around with the names you've given and see what I can find. I was also going by this letter head of Schmit brother with Kathys post... But again I could be way off base...lol
https://www.wisconsinhistory.org/Records/Image/IM88465
One thing for me that is unique about this trunk is the bird lithograph. I have seldom seen the color "orange" used in litho pictures.I never thought you were off base with Schmit being the possible maker. I just think that there were many fine makers of the time period and without a proper label it still is hard to say for sure.
It always amazes me that someone would create such a trunk and not put the maker's name in it.
Hey Drill, no your right, Without the label I can't say. Which is fine, it wouldn't be the first one..lol. I thought the D.C. Murphy was a good contender and cause for reasonable doubt ...thats why I changed title and description. The label was probably on the top tray. Although Kathy never showed the label location in her listing I am curious where it was placed.
As far as the orange color goes... I have never really paid that much attention but will in the future. If that be the case though, I should change the title to SUPER RARE!! ...lol Thanks for the note!
Also Drill I saw Marin chimed in about having one similar on Kathy's post
so maybe he will have something to add if he sees it.
Hill Trunk company advertising;
https://books.google.com/books?id=aOkLAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA192-IA23&lpg=PA192-IA23&dq=hill+trunk+company+nashville&source=bl&ots=FuGB6JCpex&sig=ACfU3U34YGGLFyN6rKRLd_VoHtqK5EXKNw&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj62KTslbXqAhVDYjUKHQ4vDaIQ6AEwEnoECAkQAQ#v=onepage&q=hill%20trunk%20company%20nashville&f=false
Super nice trunk!! Another amazing find!! You’re really finding some lovely pieces these days! Congrats!!!
Thanks for the love!! BigD338, TheGateKeeper, RichmondLori, officialfuel, Drill, FatBoy64 & greendog
BigD338, I have been hitting a few, which is perfectly fine by me. Thanks again
Thanks for the love there blunderbuss2 it's very much appreciated!!
An amazing trunk in every respect — such craftsmanship went into this. Love all the details and trim..
Thanks Trunkman!! I was especially thrilled to get this one in my hands. First one of this caliber I have ever seen in our neck of the woods being offered & probably won't see another.
https://patentimages.storage.googleapis.com/9c/52/04/2bd509f150ed7a/USD11523-drawings-page-1.png
Just found this patent the other day.
Hey thanks for this info Drill, it really cuts this trunk short for being made in the 1870's doesn't it. Brian states the latches are latches are 1878 you show the Taylor hardware 1879. Do you know or have anything for the sessions hardware patent date. I have catalog images from 1915 but no true patent date timeline. I am sure that would sum up the time frame connection between the various makers for a more appropriate decade placement for this trunk. Thanks if you do!! Also if you know or come across the patent for the simple lid stay we see on most trunks that is mounted inside which folds would be of interest. They used cloth before and never really gave this little piece much thought, but it must have come into play somewhere along the line. Thanks for your efforts again its very much, as always, appreciated!
That' weird that the drawing say's Nov 1879 and the actual hardware is marked Oct. 1877, also the lid stays were patented in 1870, and yes the latches should say 1878 on them.
After looking at it again I see it says Design which has a much lower record number than other patents of the same proximity age wise, so it must be just the swirl or what have you that he has patented. They do this for fabric patterns, wall paper and all kinds of things which is different from a 3 dimensional functioning item. At 11, 523 it's a newly introduced system.