Are these chests of drawers or trunks?

Trunks, overwhelmingly. "Trunk" appears in 252 of the sampled titles and "chest" in 180, while "chest of drawers" turns up in only two. The two-part campaign chest of drawers exists in the samples, but as an outlier near the top of the range rather than the standard form under this heading.

Why is camphor wood so common?

The timber's scent deters insects, which made it the obvious choice for storing uniforms, blankets and linen in hot climates. Trunks in it were made in quantity in China, India and Ceylon through the nineteenth century. Camphor is named in around two in five titles, making it the signature timber of the category.

How precisely are these dated?

Loosely, for the most part. The dated field spans 1750 to 1920, with 168 of 413 listings carrying a clean year. Nearly half resist a decade altogether: 141 are given simply as "19th Century" and 53 simply as "Victorian". Where decades do appear they cluster late, with 49 listings in the 1880s and 23 in the 1890s.

Do they usually carry a maker's name?

No. Most carry no maker and no regiment, and plain titles of the form "Camphorwood Campaign Chest c.1880" run through the middle of the range in dozens. Where a name does appear, whether a workshop, a retailer's label or an attribution, it comes from a single listing rather than a pattern across the category.

What is a silver chest?

An iron- or brass-bound chest, usually oak, made to travel with a household's plate. Fifteen sampled titles use the term. It is a small but distinct English group within the category, and one that's strongly over-represented in current stock on Sellingantiques.

Which unusual forms turn up under this heading?

Odd things surface once and then don't repeat: a campaign wine cooler trunk, a cellarette, a necessaire, a workman's tool chest, a dowry chest on stand. Origins wander too. Ceylon, Canton, Hong Kong, Japan, Dutch colonial teak and an American military camphor trunk each appear a single time in the samples.

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Antique Campaign Chests

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A lidded, handled travelling box, bound in brass or iron, built to go overseas with an officer or a colonial official and hold uniforms, linen or plate.