Trunk

Object Name:

Trunk

Object ID:

1920.011

Description:

Document trunk. Wood, leather-covered. Brass handle, studs, and metal lock. Domed lid. Written in ink on paper label fixed to lid top: "Trunk in which / Daniel Webster / carried his Law Papers". Written in ink on paper label fixed at one end: "Daniel Webster's trunk". One piece of leather extends up front, across top, and down back and cut under back edge. Leather separated from edge at right side of back and has shrunken back quite a bit. Leather pulled out from bottom edge of back at right side. Very worn strip of wood, ~1" wide and ~0.25" thick applied to bottom along back edge over leather. Similar strip exists on front on bottom. Lid will not close due to shrunken leather covering. On left and right edges, band of leather ~0.6" wide on top of lid applied to front, top, and back surfaces from bottom edge to top of base, from front of lid across top, and down back of bottom edge. Held in place by brass upholstery tacks on front and top surfaces. Spacing ~0.5" on center. Iron tacks used to hold leather in place on back. Leather apron around front and sides, ~1.8" wide. Apron may be made up of two to three pieces of leather. Held in place by a second strip of leather, slightly wider than 0.5" with one edge of a repeating, semi-circles with serrated edges. Repeating pattern ~0.86". Brass upholstery tack in each semi-circle at its center. Oval formation of brass upholstery tacks holding down leather trim ~0.6" wide on lid. Oval ~10.2" wide by ~4.5" deep. Leather is negative part of other applied trim with concave semi-circles with serrated edges and repeat of ~0.86". Some sections of this applied decoration missing. Furniture pull in center of top with pivot screws, 2.3" on center. Oval stamped brass plate behind screws and bail; plate 3.8" long, 1.8" wide; abstract stamped blossom in center with leaves around edges of plate; front surface of plate curved; back surface flat. Stamped on back of bail: "PATEND". Iron lock plate, 3" wide x 2.4" on front bottom section; fastened in place by four iron tacks; surface coating deteriorated on front; edges of plate appear to be beveled. At bottom center of plate, keyhole with iron stud in top section of hole; hole curves slightly to right, then straight down with flat bottom. Empty hole above keyhole. Vertically-oriented rectangular hole at upper left corner. Hinged hasp attached to front of box on lid underneath apron. Hasp hangs down with slightly concave sides leading to slightly rounded bottom section with horizontally-rolled finger tab extending from bottom. Remnants of black finish on front. Wooden lip applied to front and end pieces on inside of box. Lined with light-colored paper with array of dots in a blue or green color. Dots 0.5" center-to-center spacing. Evidence of some type of hinge system at top near rear right and left corners. Appears to be strap ~1.5" wide. Loose 3 x 5 card inside with handwritten in pencil: "Lawrence Cossett / Concord" and lower left corner "gift". Bottom outside surface of box plain wood with rough surface, rough sawn. Left end of box, evidence of labels, one over other. One on top surface typed, "This [ ] of HON. DANIEL WEBSTER." Sections of text at left. Underneath that label, a few letters seen.

Material:

Wood
Metal
Leather
Brass
Paper
Iron

Dimensions:

H-8.4 W-18.2 D-8.9 inches Weight-102.75 oz

Provenance:

Used by Daniel Webster.

Credit Line:

Gift of Lauverne Cossett

People:

Webster, Daniel (1782-1852)