Trunk

Object Name:

Trunk

Object ID:

1946.020

Date:

circa 1830

Description:

Trunk, used by New Hampshire State Treasurer in 1830s. Leather and wood. Leather handle on top, 1.1" wide; two pieces of leather sewn together with parallel lines of decorative stitching along edge of top applied piece. Strap inserted under leather surface of top. Ends of straps secured in place with triangular formations of brass upholstery tacks. From handle edge outward, row of seven tacks, row of four, three, two, one, three, two one. Same formation on opposite end of handle pointing in other direction with triangles pointing outward. Hair still attached to leather on top, front, and sides. Leather on top extends to bottom edge of front, across top, down back, and partway onto bottom, held in place by irons tacks. Leather on front and sides on bottom section, extends from top edge, down sides, and partway onto bottom, held by iron tacks. Decorative band of 0.5" wide leather at left and right edges on front, top, and back. Decorative bands held by brass upholstery tacks. Decorative apron around bottom edge of lid, 1.4" wide. Darker leather with slight decorative crease at its lower edge. Top edge punctuated by band of leather with serrated crescents along its bottom edge. Each roughly semi-circle has brass upholstery tack in its center; repeat 0.9". Some of brass upholstery tacks replaced by some iron tacks along right side of lid. Several brass tacks missing. Iron lock plate 3.8" wide x 3" high on middle of front of bottom section, held in place with four iron nails at corners; key-shape hole with stud in top opening in bottom center of plate. Decorative brass escutcheon plate around keyhole opening. Brass knob rotates ~180 degrees above keyhole opening, function unknown. Vertically-oriented, rectangular slot slightly to left of center above keyhole opening. Small rectangular stud end slightly raised above surface to left of that opening. Slightly chamfered edges to lock plate which appears to be painted black. Many scratches and worn spots on front surface of lock plate. Lock hasp attached with two different iron nails from lid; hinge in it; hangs down with outward-tapered sides tapering inward to narrow, curved finger tab. An iron loop that could fit into lock plate on back of hasp. Hasp appears to be painted black with beveled edges on bottom portion. Hasp mechanism loose with missing fastener at its top end. Chamfered lip around two sides in front surfaces of bottom section inside of box. Lip wood and attached to box by iron tacks. Two pairs of leather hinge straps at back edge. Together, each pair 1.6" wide. Left hand pair with left strap nailed to top surface of bottom section. Right hand strap nailed to bottom surface of lid at edges. Right hand pair of hinges mirror image of left-hand pair. Hinges covered with interior printed paper lining at some point. Light-colored paper with dark, simple repeated pattern on rest of box; pattern repeat 0.9" in both directions; pattern of small brown dot with eight radiating, short lobes equally spaced; one lobe slightly longer than the rest; positioned to create diamond-shaped pattern. Entire inside surface and joining surfaces between top and bottom lined with this paper. Printed paper with design has one dimension of at least 14.8" in length. Brown, heavy leather strap in inside of box at back edge at center, 1.8" wide x 2.7" long; nailed to inside back surface of lid and inside back surface of base section with five brass upholstery tacks at each end, keeping lid from opening too far; upholstery tacks relatively shiny and bright compared to those on outside of box. Slightly different paper attached to bottom surface on bottom of box where leather wrapped over and fastened with iron nails; diamond-shaped pattern with 0.7" repeat; four short blue lines to design element , ~0.12" long, in diamond formation. Appear to be ends of decorative band applied to front surface at left side. Band wraps around onto bottom ~0.4". Remnants of band at right side, front and back. Ripples in edge of leather in front and two sides on bottom, showing some elasticity when applied. Remnants of printed paper label inside lid at center. Label ~3" wide x 2" high with printed decorative border. Four printed characters left in label remnant with three different type fonts.

Material:

Wood
Leather
Tissue
Brass
Iron
Hair

Dimensions:

H-6.6 W-15 D-9 inches Weight-73.25 oz

Provenance:

Modern typed label in center of bottom: "This trunk was owned and used for carrying money and valuable papers while he was State Treasurer (about 1832) by Abner Bailey Kelley. Mr Kelley was born March, 1788 in Warner, N.H., son of the Rev. William Kelley, the first minister of Warner. (Sc Hist. Warner, p. 319.) / Note: - Looked up and verified July 2, 1927, by State Treasurer Henry E. Chamberlain who found that Abner B. Kelley was State Treasurer from 1830 to 1837. / Gift of Mrs. William A. Young, 3 Essex Street, Concord, N. H., August, 1946."

Credit Line:

Gift of Nellie B. Young

People:

Kelley, Abner B. (1788-1872)

Subjects:

Money