Posted 12 years ago
bayougirl
(1 item)
Found this chest at an estate sale. It measures 3 1/2' by 1'22" by and 20" h. Most items in this estate were brought here from Germany so I am assuming this was as well. It has its original lock (no key) and handles which are intricate and detail is exquisite. The trunk is heavy and sturdy and has a light stain as the wood grain is beautiful. Lots of scratches from years of use....but I love it. No markings that I can find. It is constructed with wooden nails...amazingly strong. Has a domed top with some sort of hammered metal strips. The inside is cedar and smells like cedar. I believe the cedar was added to the original trunk as I can see tiny metal nails on the cedar planks and all other nails are wooden. Any ideas what its origin could be? I know nothing about antiques, but fell in love with this piece.
Lovely trunk -- my knowledge on this type is limited, but it appears as though the nails are the old 'rose head' hand forged type (at least the one picture seemed like it). Hard to say with just one close up shot on that -- but if they are then an early date of the end of the 1700's early 1800's may be in order. Dove tailing the joints was in use around that time and earlier -- look to see if the joints are a little further apart and a little irregular to see if they were hand made. If the dove tailing is close and high precision it denotes machine made and a later dating. Hope this helps a little...