What is the difference between a coffer and a trunk?

Coffer is the word used for an early lidded chest, usually oak, boarded or joined and panelled, and it appears in 271 titles. These were domestic pieces for linen, blankets and valuables. Trunk in this category leans towards travel: leather, canvas, hide and metal-bound boxes made for the coach, ship and rail, plus campaign trunks made for military service. Bound appears in 43 titles, campaign in 40.

Why are so many of these described only by century?

The structured dated field runs from 1680 to 1940, but only 174 of 789 listings carry a clean year. Century labels fill the gap: 19th Century on 160, 17th Century on 103, 18th Century on 90. Reign and era words do the rest, with Victorian on 69 and Georgian on 44. Decade tags are thin and late, so 19th Century or Victorian works as a bracket rather than a date.

What is a mule chest?

A coffer with one or more drawers built into the base. It sits between the plain lidded chest and the chest of drawers, and the term appears in 64 titles. Samples run from two-drawer pine through to three-drawer Georgian oak and mahogany.

Are camphor wood chests common in this category?

Camphor is the signature imported timber, named 58 times across its spellings, and it is almost always paired with brass fittings or campaign use. The aromatic wood was used for insect-proof storage of textiles. Teak appears in 20 titles, Chinese in 20 and Indian in 18. These came home through trade and military service, alongside Zanzibar, Ceylonese, Korean and Japanese pieces.

How big do these chests get?

Size language cuts both ways. Eighty titles say large, reaching monumentally large and enormous, while 52 say small. At the smaller end sit miniature Welsh coffer bach barely bigger than a box, and deed boxes. Silver chests, iron- or steel-bound oak boxes for plate, are a distinct minor line at 21 titles.

Does painted pine sell alongside the oak?

It does. Pine appears in 114 titles and painted in 61, taking in Scottish and Welsh kists, Victorian stripped pine and Continental painted work. Scandinavian painted chests are a recognisable seam, with 16 titles naming Swedish pieces plus Scandinavian, Danish, Alpine, Hungarian and Romanian marriage and dome-top chests. Within that group, original paint sits at the higher end.

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Antique Storage Trunks

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A lidded box for linen, blankets, plate or the road, most often an oak coffer or blanket chest, sometimes a bound travelling trunk or a camphor-wood chest brought home from the East.

17th century

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A 17th Century Oak Coffer Carved

From Wickersley Antiques

£295

3+ MONTHS AGO

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17th century

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17th Century Oak Coffer

From Wickersley Antiques

£250

3+ MONTHS AGO

chests

A Nice Small 17th C Coffer Linen Fold Panel

17th century

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A Nice Small 17th C Coffer Linen Fold Panel

From Wickersley Antiques

£295

3+ MONTHS AGO

chests

1920 - 1940

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Art Deco Blanket Chest

From Poirot Art Deco

£1,250

3+ MONTHS AGO

chests

18th century

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Georgian Pine Mule Chest

From Mark Davis Antiques

£395

3+ MONTHS AGO

chests

Richly Carved Oriental Camphorwood Trunk

1920 - 1940

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Richly Carved Oriental Camphorwood Trunk

From Andros Antiques

£580

3+ MONTHS AGO

chests

18th century

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Antique Early Welsh Oak Large Coffer

From Penderyn Antiques

£695

3+ MONTHS AGO

chests

19th century

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Japanese Kuruma-dansu (Wheeled Chest)

From Sinclairs Antiques and Interiors

£950

3+ MONTHS AGO

chests

19th century

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19th Century Studded Trunk

From Antiques Decorative

£280

3+ MONTHS AGO

chests

17th century

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Antique Oak Coffer

From Deva Antiques

£685

3+ MONTHS AGO

chests

Forms that turned up once and never again: a Japanese wheeled kuruma-dansu, a Korean elm bandaji, a French elm cannonball box and a 17th century oak sword chest.

18th century

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Oak Coffer with Burr Elm Panels C.1790

From Collinge Antiques

£695

3+ MONTHS AGO

chests

Antique Period Oak & Country Furniture 16thc Elizabethan Boarded Coffer. English C1560-80

16th century

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Antique Period Oak & Country Furniture 16thc Elizabethan Boarded Coffer. English C1560-80

From Mark Seabrook Antiques

£1,475

3+ MONTHS AGO

chests

Victorian Blanket Box Decorated in the Style of a Georgian Manor House

19th century

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Victorian Blanket Box Decorated in the Style of a Georgian Manor House

From The Juniper Barn

£2,225

3+ MONTHS AGO

chests

17th century

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Large 17th Century Antique Quality Carved Oak Coffer

From London City Antiques

£1,485

3+ MONTHS AGO

chests

Large Early 20th C. Pine Carpenters Chest

1900 - 1920

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Large Early 20th C. Pine Carpenters Chest

From The Old Yard

£350

3+ MONTHS AGO

chests

Spanish Gothic Oak Cathedral Chest / Coffer Circa 1600

17th century

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Spanish Gothic Oak Cathedral Chest / Coffer Circa 1600

From School House Antiques

£900

3+ MONTHS AGO

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← 1 ... 9 10 11 12 13 ... 48 →

Antique Storage Trunks

A 17th Century Oak Coffer Carved

17th Century Oak Coffer

A Nice Small 17th C Coffer Linen Fold Panel

Art Deco Blanket Chest

Georgian Pine Mule Chest

Richly Carved Oriental Camphorwood Trunk

Antique Early Welsh Oak Large Coffer

Japanese Kuruma-dansu (Wheeled Chest)

19th Century Studded Trunk

Antique Oak Coffer

Oak Coffer with Burr Elm Panels C.1790

Antique Period Oak & Country Furniture 16thc Elizabethan Boarded Coffer. English C1560-80

Victorian Blanket Box Decorated in the Style of a Georgian Manor House

Large 17th Century Antique Quality Carved Oak Coffer

Large Early 20th C. Pine Carpenters Chest

Spanish Gothic Oak Cathedral Chest / Coffer Circa 1600

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