Trunk

Object Name:

Trunk

Object ID:

1969.052.23

Date:

circa 1760

Description:

Trunk, wood, covered with black leather, decorated with brass tacks. Dark-finished leather across top, down back to bottom edge. Hard to tell if ends of top connected with top piece of leather or if ends of bottom connected with front piece of leather. Additional leather strip at ends of top section, ~1" wide, wrapped over edge of box on front, top, and back to bottom of lid. Strip of leather ~1.75" wide below that on front and back that extends to bottom edge. Strips on lid fastened with brass upholstery tacks at each of its edges. Two rows of upholstery tacks on each surface of wider strips on bottom, both front and back. These extra strips reflected on other end of box with same geometric layout. Leather apron ~1.3" wide around bottom edge of lid, tacked with brass upholstery tacks. Apron appears to be three distinct pieces for front and both ends. Leather strip, 0.35" wide, around bottom edge on front, back, and ends, held in place with brass upholstery tacks; these appear to go underneath the wide applied leather strips previously mentioned at corners. Leather strip ~0.4" wide on front of box, centered ~4" from each corner: two vertical strips 0.4" wide, centered about 4" from each corner, extending up front of box onto lid to top, front edge of lid; held in place with brass upholstery tacks. Same strip layout duplicated on back of box. Four vertical strips of leather terminate at top edges match up with a quarter circle of brass tacks curving to outside edge with 4" radius, result of four arcs of tacks. All brass tacks ~0.5" on center for whole piece. Horizontal leather band on back of box, ~0.6" wide with bottom edge 2.2" from bottom of box. Fastened with row of brass upholstery tacks. Band tucks under wider strip at edges of back. Wide band continuous. Previously mentioned narrow vertical band inlaid adjacent to top and bottom edges of this wide band. Four tacks in diamond shape on back near junction between lid and base between outside edge band and smaller vertical band. Rectangular 4" x 7" array of brass upholstery tacks with concave corners in center of top with radius ~1.25". Brass furniture pull in center of this, Queen Anne style, with brass pivot screws, 3.5" apart on center. 1.3" diameter round plates under pivot screws. Iron hinge hasp with black finish prominently screwed to front of box with two round head and one flat head screw on front of lid. Eight upholstery tacks around edge top portion of hasp to outline its shape. Bottom portion of hasp, slightly flared rectangle with clipped corners at bottom. Two shallow, bright beveled decorations along outside edge of hasp. Edges of clipped corners also chamfered. Iron lock plate on front of bottom section, 2.5" wide x 2.25" high. Held in place by four iron tacks, one in each corner. Keyhole with applied brass escutcheon around it, centered near bottom of lock plate. Iron stud in top portion of keyhole. Roughly parallel sides and slightly rounded bottom to slot below that. Brass escutcheon roughly rectangular with small bulbs in each corner and slightly convex top and bottom edge. Vertically-oriented rectangular hole at upper left corner of lock plate. Applied leather band around edge of lockplate, ~0.35" wide; held in place with brass upholstery tacks. Band on left, bottom, and right edges. Extra upholstery tack outside band at each of lower corners. Group of three extra tacks in triangle below center bottom of lock plate band. About three different sizes of upholstery tacks used on this box, sometimes mixed together. All original brass. Applied wooden lip tacked to sides and front edge inside of box. Two brass threaded rods with round nuts on rim of box and center, protruding through box lining. Inside of box covered with printed red and white floral design toile.

Material:

Wood
Leather
Brass
Iron
Textile

Dimensions:

H-6.8 W-16.1 D-10.6 inches Weight-98.35 oz

Provenance:

Objects and manuscripts from the Nims and Knight families of Roxbury, NH, and the Rugg family of Sullivan, NH, given by a descendant, Helen E. (Mrs. Charles B.) Knight of Marlborough, NH.

Credit Line:

Gift of Helen E. Knight

People:

Knight, Helen E. (1895-1985), Knight, Charles B. (1892-1968)

Subjects:

Boxes, Flowers, Trunks