Flat Top Steamer Trunk Antique Chest w/Straps,Key,Tray

Pricing & History

Sold for
Start Free Trial or Sign In to see what it's worth.
Sold Date
Source eBay

Gorgeous Refinished Unusual Flat Top Steamer Trunk With Straps & Buckles, Original Brass Lock With a Working Key, and Special Pop Up Tray With Original Manufacturer's Label This beautiful trunk is back for sale since a person from England tried to purchase this trunk. We informed this person that we do not ship to England. Tfore it is up for sale again! What an absolutely beautiful restored pine flat top steamer trunk that we have for you! We will consider this a flat top, although t is a very slight arch to the top. This one is very ornate and consists of pine base wood with oak or ash outer slat boards. The wooden surfaces have been prepared and finished with three brush coats of polyurethane by Minwax. The wood has a nice color, or patina. It is a amberish light brown color. No staining of the wood during the refinishing process was necessary to achieve this nice color. The only sold brass component on this lovely trunk is the lower part of the signed original working lock with antique key. We have semi polished the brass instead of painting it. It is signed, "Excelsior Lock Works Newark N.J.". The rest of the metal components have been brush painted by hand in a nice black and gold pattern. The edge banding which is brown, is original with the factory black pin stripes. This banding is made up of some type of composition or pressed leather. We have filled in some small splits on this banding to keep it intact and left it in it's original color. The original leather straps with buckles were missing. They probably had eroded away many years ago. So, we have run a pair of nice Amish made black leather straps with roller buckles in the same location w the original ones were. What was unique about this pair of straps is that the trunk maker ran the straps all the way back down the back of the trunk which is somewhat unusual. So we did the same with these leather straps. Each one is full length all the way from the front to the bottom of the back. These straps are functional and in addition to the working lock and working latches when fastened, the straps and buckles help secure the trunk's top to it's base. What a beautiful storage chest for in the bedroom or in the hallway between the bedrooms. are the measurements: from left to right across the front is 32 1/2 inches, from floor to top is 23 inches, and from front edge to back edge is 20 3/4 inches. The side handles have been replaced with black leather straps. We obtain all of our leather products for these trunks that we refinish from an Amish man in an Amish community near our home in Pennsylvania. Now is the very unusual feature on this trunk which we have never had on any of the trunks that we have refinished in the past: When you open the lid of the trunk up, the tray rises up on brackets while the lid is being opened. This allows you to reach down into the trunk underneath the tray to remove items, and also brings the tray up so you can have access to it nicely. We kept the tray lid and re-attached it to the tray because it has the trunk maker's label on it with the patent dates. It says, "Goldsmith's Ideal Tray Trunk Patented Aug. 17, 1897, Mar. 22, '98, Mar. 13, 1900, Feb 18, 1902". We have refinished probably over 700 trunks now in the past 6 years or so, and this is the first one we have come across w the tray comes up with the lid. The interior wood and the tray have received two coats of clearcoat. The way they bent the wood when making the tray has allowed some stress cracks to form at the curved area. This tray is still sturdy...just thought we should mention it so t won't be any surprises. A nice trunk maker's style picture has been fastened to the underside of the top. It portrays a Victorian woman standing in a boat on a pond. Going to the exterior bottom or underside of this trunk, it is in good condition. We have finished the bottom. We do this to make the trunk nice and clean for placement inside your home. The four factory original ... read more

Items in the Price Guide are obtained exclusively from licensors and partners solely for our members’ research needs.

Flag item for content or copyright

If this item contains incorrect or inappropriate information please contact us here to flag it for review.

If you are the originator/copyright holder of this photo/item and would prefer it be excluded from our community, contact us here for removal.