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

In practice the words overlap. Trunk usually points to a travelling chest, often dome-topped, iron bound or tin lined; blanket box to a flat-lidded domestic chest for bedding. Many titles use both of them for one object, so the description and the photographs tell you more than the noun does.

How old are most pine chests on the site?

Victorian and "19th Century" between them cover the majority of dated listings, with Georgian, 18th Century and Regency used as period labels rather than years. The field as a whole runs from 1700 to 1930, taking in a coffer dated to the 1690s at one end and 1930s storage boxes at the other.

Why are painted chests priced above plain ones?

The painted group is small but strongly represented, and it occupies the top of the range. Swedish chests account for 21 titles, Hungarian 10, with one-off Norwegian, Romanian, Alpine, Spanish, Dutch and East German pieces. Several carry dates painted on the front, from 1819 to 1912. Stripped and waxed pine sits at the other end.

What is a mule chest?

A chest with the usual lift-lid box above and one or more drawers built into the base. Fifty-six titles use the term. Listings specify two-, three- and four-drawer versions. Drawers, fitted interiors and secret compartments all push a chest up the range.

Are tool chests common in this category?

They're a visible minority, concentrated at the upper end. Tool appears in 24 titles and carpenters in 10. The job titles run wide: shipwright, joiner, cobbler, farrier, boat builder, cabinet maker, journeyman and fisherman, alongside railway, mail and carriage trunks.

Do pine chests carry maker's names?

Rarely. This is a vernacular category, made for bedrooms, workshops and travel rather than for show, and no maker or retailer name recurs across the archive. What does appear instead is ownership: regimental marks, railway company initials, and names or dates painted or inscribed by hand.