What's the difference between a coffer and a blanket box?

In practice the words overlap. "Coffer" tends to be used for the earlier oak chests, plank or panelled, and appears in 407 titles. "Blanket box" is the general term for a lidded chest kept in a bedroom or hall, and appears in 522. The same chest could carry either name depending on the dealer writing the title. Reading the timber and construction in the description tells you more than the noun does.

Which wood are these usually made from?

Oak leads, in 506 titles, followed by pine in 298. Elm, camphor wood, mahogany, walnut and a scattering of satinwood, padouk and teak make up the rest. Oak carries the panelled and carved coffers. Pine carries the Victorian boxes, often painted, scumbled or stripped.

How old can a blanket chest be?

The dealers' dated field runs from 1680 to 1940 across the listings that carry a clean year. Title attributions reach further, with sixteenth-century Tudor and Elizabethan claims at one end and 1930s oak at the other. One sampled title claims a late fifteenth-century Gothic coffer in oak and elm. It is the only pre-1500 attribution anywhere in the evidence, so medieval dating isn't a real segment of this market.

Are these only English?

No. Origins outside Britain form a steady minority: Swedish, Danish, Dutch, Flemish, French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Hungarian, Romanian, Alpine, Chinese, Japanese, Indian, Zanzibari, Canadian and American pieces all appear. Swedish painted chests and Chinese camphor wood turn up most often among them.

Do people use blanket chests as something else?

Often, and dealers say so in the title. Twenty-two titles offer the chest as a coffee table. Others are listed as a TV stand, hall seat, window seat or fireside bin. The low, flat-lidded forms take to it most easily.

Who made antique blanket chests?

Names are almost absent from this category. A scan of 1,290 listings turned up no maker or workshop attributions at all, which is unusual for a furniture form. What dealers name instead is a region. Welsh appears in 36 titles, and Yorkshire, Lakeland, Lancashire, Dorset, Westmorland, West Country and North Country coffers all surface in the samples.

Home > Chests > Blanket Chests > Page 40

Antique Blanket Chests

754 items · page 40 of 48

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A lidded chest with a hinged top, made to store and carry blankets, linen and valuables long before the chest of drawers took over the job.

Beautifully Grained Victorian, Solid Satinwood Trunk

1900 - 1920

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Beautifully Grained Victorian, Solid Satinwood Trunk

From The Dorking Desk Shop

£645

FOR SALE

chests

17th century

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17th Century Six Planked Coffer.

From Dickinsons Antiques

£920

FOR SALE

chests

17th century

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Mid 17th Century Charles I Oak Coffer, Circa 1645

From Surrey Antiques by Gary J Hall

£995

FOR SALE

chests

17th century

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17th Century Oak & Inlaid Marquetry Coffer / Mule Chest

From Dickinsons Antiques

£2,600

FOR SALE

chests

Vintage Steamer / Cabin Trunk, Circa 1880

19th century

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Vintage Steamer / Cabin Trunk, Circa 1880

From Surrey Antiques by Gary J Hall

£400

FOR SALE

chests

18th century

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18th Century Small French Oak Coffer, Strong Box

From Elmgarden

£1,020

FOR SALE

chests

19th century

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Victorian Scumbled Pine Mule Chest

From Sinclairs Antiques and Interiors

£340

FOR SALE

chests

19th century

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Antique Teak Trunk

From Deva Antiques

£485

FOR SALE

chests

C19th Dutch Colonial Teak and Ebony Brass-mounted Chest or Trunk on Stand .

19th century

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C19th Dutch Colonial Teak and Ebony Brass-mounted Chest or Trunk on Stand .

From M Lees and Sons

£900

FOR SALE

chests

18th century

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Early 18th Carved Oak Coffer

From Rupert Hitchcox Antiques

£285

FOR SALE

chests

Kist, cassone, coffer bach, damchiya dowry chest, Armada chest, Zanzibar chest, cannonball box, slipper box - all one form, each name turning up only a handful of times.

17th century

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Oak Coffer

From Midwinter Antiques

£695

FOR SALE

chests

Miniature Welsh Inlaid Box or Chest, Circa 1780

18th century

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Miniature Welsh Inlaid Box or Chest, Circa 1780

From WelshAntiques

£580

FOR SALE

chests

17th century

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Early 17th Century Oak Coffer

From Dickinsons Antiques

£925

FOR SALE

chests

17th century

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Charles I Arcaded Front Coffer.

From F E Anderson Antiques

£435

FOR SALE

chests

Antique Silver Chest, English Oak, Steel Bound, Steamer Trunk, Victorian, C.1900

19th century

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Antique Silver Chest, English Oak, Steel Bound, Steamer Trunk, Victorian, C.1900

From London Fine Antiques

£1,295

FOR SALE

chests

Spectacular Quality Georgian Mahogany Antique Chest

18th century

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Spectacular Quality Georgian Mahogany Antique Chest

From Driscolls Antiques Ltd

£1,450

FOR SALE

chests

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Antique Blanket Chests

Beautifully Grained Victorian, Solid Satinwood Trunk

17th Century Six Planked Coffer.

Mid 17th Century Charles I Oak Coffer, Circa 1645

17th Century Oak & Inlaid Marquetry Coffer / Mule Chest

Vintage Steamer / Cabin Trunk, Circa 1880

18th Century Small French Oak Coffer, Strong Box

Victorian Scumbled Pine Mule Chest

Antique Teak Trunk

C19th Dutch Colonial Teak and Ebony Brass-mounted Chest or Trunk on Stand .

Early 18th Carved Oak Coffer

Oak Coffer

Miniature Welsh Inlaid Box or Chest, Circa 1780

Early 17th Century Oak Coffer

Charles I Arcaded Front Coffer.

Antique Silver Chest, English Oak, Steel Bound, Steamer Trunk, Victorian, C.1900

Spectacular Quality Georgian Mahogany Antique Chest

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