Posted 14 years ago
WendyKing
(2 items)
I don't know much about this trunk other than it looks like it's copper and wood. Under the lock it says, "Patend Oct 2 1883. It has wheels on the bottom and there is military script on it; "Trans officer, Ft Know, KY and the Capts. Name. Does anyone know anything about this trunk? Thanks
Dome Top Trunks
1870 -1920
Built in many sizes and styles. They generally have a curved top that slopes in both directions and built using a variety of construction
methods including molded ply and barrel construction among others. Within this style of trunks are a few other names that have come
about based on the positioning of the wood slates that cover the dome construction. The exact origin of these names is unknown but seem
reasonable and listed below as I understand them.
Barrel Stave Trunks (1860-1885) they generally date a bit earlier than most of the dome tops made and have horizontal running slats
instead of vertical (end to end vs. over the top), giving it a slightly different look. The word "stave" in this case refers to the wood slats. These
trunks were mostly made from the late 1860's until about the mid 1880s when the other dome construction methods listed below became
more widely used. Often early examples of this style have a graceful, well proportioned look and the later examples into the 1870's are quite
simply well made.
Camel Back Trunks which having a central, vertically-running top slat that is higher than all others.
Hump Back Trunks or Hunch Backs which is basically the same as the camel back trunk but has no slat in the center of the top.
From: http://www.eagletrunks.com/antiquetrunkhistory/trunkhistorystyles.html
Thank you for the information. ?
Do you know if it has any value and would it de-value the trunk if I were to refinish it?
If you plan to keep the trunk, go ahead and restore it and put it to use. It looks pretty battered (to be expected for it's age) since it's missing the tray that sits inside as well as having the top of the compartment broken off. I assume the leather straps on the sides are gone? Take a look at the photo I have posted in Show & Tell of one I have that's been restored. The compartments in mine were too far gone, so they were completely removed. I have another trunk where the compartments were restored, I will take a photo of it one of these days.
Hi Wendy. There's a lot of confusion about the age and makers of these trunks. I've done lots of research and patent searches on these trunk over the last 30 years. This trunk style was patented in March 1880 by Charles Taylor of Chicago and was called the "Cross Slat" trunk. Those metal slat clamps were part of the patent in 1880. The latches on your trunk were patented in 1882 and used on trunks until the 1910's. This style trunk was also made from the mid 1880's until the 1910's as proven by old trunk catalogs I own. There is no copper on these trunks, but the metal is sheet iron, tin and sometime cast iron or cast alloy hardware. Some earlier trunk had zinc rather than tin but that was phased out in the 1870's. These trunks were made by trunk makers all over the U.S., there were hundreds of trunk companies in the 1880's to 1890's. I have many old catalogs, trunk labels, articles, etc. and the name "dome top trunk" is NOT in any of them. They did call them round top, Saratoga, barrel stave, and cross slat trunks, but I have never seen dome top or camel back in any of the old materials. People have made up those names much later. Many false stories have been made up and passed on about trunks. They did make round top trunks of some types starting in the 1860's and then the barrel stave and higher round tops and saratogas in the 1870's to 1890's and into the early 1900's. They also made all of these types during that time frame, so you can't say that a barrel stave trunk is older than a cross slat trunk. Many styles were made at the same time and that is shown in the old catalogs. It is certainly a good idea to clean up and restore trunks in this condition. You can clean and repaint the metal, replace missing metal parts, replace handles, refinish the wood slats, etc. etc. That will only help the value of trunks in poor condition like this. Hope this helps some. Thanks, Marvin ThisOldTrunk.com
Marvin thank you for your info on my trunk i would like to try and sell it can you put a value on it?