What is the difference between a trunk and a chest?

In practice, very little. "Trunk" appears in roughly half the titles in this category and "chest" in the other half, and dealers apply them to the same object. Scale shifts the word rather than the form. The smallest are called caskets or boxes, the heavier iron-bound examples coffers, and a few chests for valuables are called strong boxes.

Which woods were used for colonial chests?

Teak leads, named in about a quarter of titles, with camphor wood next and a plain "hardwood" description behind that. Beyond those three the timbers are unusually varied for one category. Padouk, walnut, satinwood, rosewood, mahogany, elm, oak, larchwood, sandalwood, palisander and ebony all appear in the samples.

How old are colonial chests?

Dating here tends to be a century rather than a year. Forty-eight of the 109 listings say only "19th Century" and nine say only "18th Century". Only 34 carry a clean year, spread thinly from the 1750s to the 1910s. A handful are given as Victorian or Edwardian instead, and three sampled pieces reach back to the 17th century.

Are Zanzibar chests part of this category?

Yes. Zanzibar chests are named in five titles, one of them described as African outright, which makes it the most distinctive single origin term after India. They belong with the iron-bound and studded coffers, a group that accounts for roughly a tenth of the category.

What does a campaign chest mean in these listings?

It means the piece was made to travel with an officer or official abroad, where furniture moved with its owner. The word appears in a sixth of titles. The group covers officers' travelling trunks, a military teak trunk, gentleman's travelling chests and miniature campaign trunks. One campaign piece in the samples is a cellarette rather than a trunk.

Are colonial chests marked with a maker's name?

Not in this category. A scan of the dealer descriptions for maker, workshop and retailer names returned nothing at all. What listings identify instead is origin and timber: Indian, Anglo-Indian, Dutch colonial, Spanish, Portuguese, Ceylonese, and the wood the chest is built from.

Home > Chests > Colonial Chests > Page 3

Antique Colonial Chests

61 items · page 3 of 4

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A lidded hardwood storage box made in or for the colonial trade, strapped in brass or iron and fitted with carrying handles, built so that possessions could survive a sea voyage.

Antique Leather Studded Chest. Spanish Domed Coffer Trunk.

19th century

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Antique Leather Studded Chest. Spanish Domed Coffer Trunk.

From Krave Antiques

£695

FOR SALE

chests

19th century

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Trunk Chest

From Midwinter Antiques

£795

FOR SALE

chests

19th century

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19th Century Brass and Leather Camphor Trunk

From Tom Scott Antiques

£1,595

FOR SALE

chests

Polished Elm Brass Mounted Gentleman's Travelling Chest

19th century

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Polished Elm Brass Mounted Gentleman's Travelling Chest

From David Griffith Antiques

£1,850

FOR SALE

chests

19th century

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C19th Small Camphor Campaign Trunk

From Antiques Decorative

£380

FOR SALE

chests

19th century

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C19th Camphor Campaign Trunk

From Antiques Decorative

£820

FOR SALE

chests

19th century

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19th Century Indian Rosewood Merchants Trunk

From The Old Cinema

£2,950

FOR SALE

chests

19th century

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Solid Satinwood Colonial Trunk

From Hansord Antiques

£880

FOR SALE

chests

19th century

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19th Century Chinoiserie Indian Trunk

From Jake Wright Antiques Ltd.

£2,400

FOR SALE

chests

19th century

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19th Century Fitted Interior Camphor Wood Campaign Trunk, C1860

From Anthony Short Antiques

£1,800

FOR SALE

chests

The oldest to pass through Sellingantiques are three 17th-century pieces: a Spanish leather chest, a Spanish colonial carved coffer and a Portuguese colonial mahogany and brass chest.

18th century

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Small Antique Dome Top Chest, Spanish, Leather, Decorative Trunk, Georgian, 1750

From London Fine Antiques

£1,295

FOR SALE

chests

19th century

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19th Century Anglo Indian Lacquer Trunk on Stand

From Hansord Antiques

£3,750

FOR SALE

chests

19th century

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Anglo - Indian Blanket / Storage Box

From Sinclairs Antiques and Interiors

£450

FOR SALE

chests

19th century

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A Camphor Campaign Trunk

From The Antique Partnership

£575

FOR SALE

chests

19th century

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19th Century Teak Campaign Chest

From Sinclairs Antiques and Interiors

£550

FOR SALE

chests

19th century

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Padouk Blanket Box / Storage Box

From Sinclairs Antiques and Interiors

£1,250

FOR SALE

chests

← 1 2 3 4 →

Antique Colonial Chests

Antique Leather Studded Chest. Spanish Domed Coffer Trunk.

Trunk Chest

19th Century Brass and Leather Camphor Trunk

Polished Elm Brass Mounted Gentleman's Travelling Chest

C19th Small Camphor Campaign Trunk

C19th Camphor Campaign Trunk

19th Century Indian Rosewood Merchants Trunk

Solid Satinwood Colonial Trunk

19th Century Chinoiserie Indian Trunk

19th Century Fitted Interior Camphor Wood Campaign Trunk, C1860

Small Antique Dome Top Chest, Spanish, Leather, Decorative Trunk, Georgian, 1750

19th Century Anglo Indian Lacquer Trunk on Stand

Anglo - Indian Blanket / Storage Box

A Camphor Campaign Trunk

19th Century Teak Campaign Chest

Padouk Blanket Box / Storage Box

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