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.

18th century

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Georgian Oak Mule Chest

From Nicholas Little Antiques

£580

3+ MONTHS AGO

chests

18th century

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18th Century Welsh Oak Coffer Bach

From Clive Payne Antiques

£2,950

3+ MONTHS AGO

chests

17th century

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A Oak 17th Century South Gloucestershire Coffer

From Clive Payne Antiques

£2,650

3+ MONTHS AGO

chests

19th century

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Very Small Victorian Painted Trunk

From Waterfall Antiques

£230

3+ MONTHS AGO

chests

1900 - 1920

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Two Travel Trunks

From Michael Youll Antiques

£300

3+ MONTHS AGO

chests

1900 - 1920

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Indian Iron Bound Trunk

From John Howkins Antiques

£595

3+ MONTHS AGO

chests

1900 - 1920

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Attractive Large Antique Black Lacquered Oriental Pig Skin Chest Shipping Trunk

From Abacus Antiques

£295

3+ MONTHS AGO

chests

19th century

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Attractive Large Antique Victorian Pine Kist Chest Storage Trunk Blanket Toy Box

From Abacus Antiques

£125

3+ MONTHS AGO

chests

19th century

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Colonial Strong Box Mid 19th Century

From Eclectic Antiques

£298

3+ MONTHS AGO

chests

Attractive Antique Victorian Pine Kist Chest

19th century

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Attractive Antique Victorian Pine Kist Chest

From Abacus Antiques

£245

3+ MONTHS AGO

chests

Camphor wood is the signature imported timber for trunks on Sellingantiques, named 58 times, and nearly always paired with brass fittings or campaign use.

17th century

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16th Century Oak Coffer

From Holmes Antiques

£4,500

3+ MONTHS AGO

chests

17th century

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17th Century English Oak Coffer with Geometric Moulding

From A Brookes

£1,950

3+ MONTHS AGO

chests

17th century

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17th Century Oak Coffer

From Holmes Antiques

£900

3+ MONTHS AGO

chests

18th century

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Jacobean Four Panel Oak Blanket Chest

From Harrison Antique Furniture

£790

3+ MONTHS AGO

chests

17th century

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17th Century Yorkshire Coffer

From Holmes Antiques

£1,400

3+ MONTHS AGO

chests

1900 - 1920

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Victorian Pine Box

From Affordable Old Furniture

£250

3+ MONTHS AGO

chests

← 1 ... 43 44 45 46 47 48 →

Antique Storage Trunks

Georgian Oak Mule Chest

18th Century Welsh Oak Coffer Bach

A Oak 17th Century South Gloucestershire Coffer

Very Small Victorian Painted Trunk

Two Travel Trunks

Indian Iron Bound Trunk

Attractive Large Antique Black Lacquered Oriental Pig Skin Chest Shipping Trunk

Attractive Large Antique Victorian Pine Kist Chest Storage Trunk Blanket Toy Box

Colonial Strong Box Mid 19th Century

Attractive Antique Victorian Pine Kist Chest

16th Century Oak Coffer

17th Century English Oak Coffer with Geometric Moulding

17th Century Oak Coffer

Jacobean Four Panel Oak Blanket Chest

17th Century Yorkshire Coffer

Victorian Pine Box

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