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.

16th century

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Rare Dated Elizabethan Coffer

From Holmes Antiques

£3,400

3+ MONTHS AGO

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18th century

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Antique English 18th Century Georgian Oak Joined & Panelled Coffer Chest Blanket Box Trunk (Circa 1720)

From Yolanda Gray Antiques

£895

3+ MONTHS AGO

chests

16th century

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16th Century Walnut Coffer

From Tigers Decorative

£4,250

3+ MONTHS AGO

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19th century

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Camphor Wood Trunk

From LTANTIQUES.CO.UK

£775

3+ MONTHS AGO

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18th century

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An Imposing 18th Century Oak Mule Chest

From Marlborough Antiques & Interiors

£1,585

3+ MONTHS AGO

chests

17th century

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17th Century Oak Coffer.

From Dickinsons Antiques

£750

3+ MONTHS AGO

chests

Chinese Camphor Wood Blanket / Storage Box

19th century

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Chinese Camphor Wood Blanket / Storage Box

From Sinclairs Antiques and Interiors

£375

3+ MONTHS AGO

chests

17th century

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17th Century Yorkshire Coffer.

From Dickinsons Antiques

£1,650

3+ MONTHS AGO

chests

17th century

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17th Century Lakeland Oak Coffer

From Holmes Antiques

£2,400

3+ MONTHS AGO

chests

Chinese Camphor Wood Storage / Blanket Box

19th century

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Chinese Camphor Wood Storage / Blanket Box

From Sinclairs Antiques and Interiors

£550

3+ MONTHS AGO

chests

Dated storage trunks on Sellingantiques run from 1680 to 1940, though titles reach back further, to Tudor oak and one described as late 15th century Gothic.

19th century

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Early 19th Century Coaching Trunk

From witchantiques.com

£935

3+ MONTHS AGO

chests

18th century

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18th Century Period Antique Oak Coffer

From Driscolls Antiques Ltd

£695

3+ MONTHS AGO

chests

16th century

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A 16th Century Carved Coffer

From Oliveri Antiques Ltd

£2,200

3+ MONTHS AGO

chests

Antique Early 20th Century Oriental Carved Camphor Wood Trunk

1900 - 1920

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Antique Early 20th Century Oriental Carved Camphor Wood Trunk

From Penderyn Antiques

£595

3+ MONTHS AGO

chests

18th century

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C18th Oak Coffer

From Courtyard Antiques

£435

3+ MONTHS AGO

chests

19th century

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Small 19th Century Camphor Wood Campaign Trunk

From S and S Timms Antiques Ltd

£1,995

3+ MONTHS AGO

chests

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Antique Storage Trunks

Rare Dated Elizabethan Coffer

Antique English 18th Century Georgian Oak Joined & Panelled Coffer Chest Blanket Box Trunk (Circa 1720)

16th Century Walnut Coffer

Camphor Wood Trunk

An Imposing 18th Century Oak Mule Chest

17th Century Oak Coffer.

Chinese Camphor Wood Blanket / Storage Box

17th Century Yorkshire Coffer.

17th Century Lakeland Oak Coffer

Chinese Camphor Wood Storage / Blanket Box

Early 19th Century Coaching Trunk

18th Century Period Antique Oak Coffer

A 16th Century Carved Coffer

Antique Early 20th Century Oriental Carved Camphor Wood Trunk

C18th Oak Coffer

Small 19th Century Camphor Wood Campaign Trunk

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