A trunk is a large, sturdy box with a hinged lid, made for transporting or storing clothing and household goods. Antique trunks range from simple iron-bound wooden chests to leather-covered travelling trunks and the canvas-covered luggage of the great age of rail and steamship travel.
Early trunks were often made of pine, oak or elm covered in leather or hide and decorated with brass or iron studs, with domed lids to shed water when carried on coaches. Military and colonial service in the nineteenth century produced robust camphorwood and teak trunks with flush brass fittings, valued for their resistance to insects. The later nineteenth and early twentieth centuries saw specialist luggage makers in Britain, France and America produce wardrobe and steamer trunks fitted with drawers and hanging space. Luxury French firms such as Louis Vuitton and Goyard are especially sought after, and their trunks are now collected as design objects in their own right. When assessing a trunk, buyers look at the quality of the timber and leather, the originality of locks, handles and labels, and the state of the interior. Trunks make attractive coffee tables and storage pieces in modern interiors.
