Old trunk

Rammjäger · Feb 1, 2010

I just couldn't let go this offer in Internet.

ANNO 1808 ! - that makes a 202 years old trunk!
By that year of Our Lord 1808 Napoleon Bonaparte was at
the highest point of his Imperium in Europa and had just attacked
Spain (his former allied) - Four years before his Russia campaign in 1812.
Germany by that time was,as well as other countries,under control
of Napoleon armies.
The trunk was restored in 1978 , but under the new paint we discovered
the old gothic numbers and letters.
We should take all of this paint off from 1978 to restore it to its the original status.
These trunks were used for cloths storage mainly in farms etc.
Here some pics.

swuycheck · Feb 1, 2010

its a beauty, but I agree restore it to original.

agbkyle · Feb 1, 2010

Great find. I'd want to put it back to original also if I knew what was under the paint. Good luck. Like to see an after photo if you do end up restoring it.

Rammjäger · Feb 1, 2010

Thank you,
what would you recommend for recovering the old numbers and words
under the new painted ones without doing any further damage ?
For instance, trying gently with sandpaper ?

tater · Feb 1, 2010

NO SANDPAPER!!! I dont know how to do it but sandpaper is not the way to do it

Rammjäger · Feb 1, 2010

tater said:
NO SANDPAPER!!! I dont know how to do it but sandpaper is not the way to do it

OK - then chemically ?

Rammjäger · Feb 1, 2010

We received the trunk yesterday evening .My wife and my 2 daughters
observed the paintings with a flashlight .They discovered the old writings underneath..
For instance, the old numbers are larger than the new painted ones.
I would try with UV light and later make a pattern of each number just in case.
The wallpaper inside the trunk is also new,it must also go away.
Originally it had no paper. I wish I could find some secret compartment :lol:

Frank1960 · Feb 1, 2010

very nice find take care of it and pass it down to your kids that is a keeper

Rammjäger · Feb 2, 2010

Frank1960 said:
very nice find take care of it and pass it down to your kids that is a keeper

Thank you Frank,
we will keep it . Hope for a long time,and who knows ? -
perhaps it will end up in America,if we ever return there.

Restoration will take over my wife and I will help :yes:

Whenever restoration is completed, I will post pics but
that will take some time :roll:

frankiefry · Feb 2, 2010

Old Trunk

I saw one almost like yours on the Antique Road Show and it DID have a secret compartment under the candle box. The inside rail slid up about 1-2 inches and there was another space under the bottom of the box that would hold stuff. As for restoring it back to origional, I would look up a professional and at least talk to them before you do anything. With the best of intentions you could do more harm than good out of lack of information. Don't be in a hurry. Good Luck with it cause you have a real gem there. : )

Rammjäger · Feb 2, 2010

Thanks for your reply and good advise,
unfortunatelly we don't see any responsable restaurators here-
and the cost would be in any case very high with unexpected results.
Just look what these "restaurators" did the the trunk.
I am sure the old woman who owned the trunk (she has sold it to us)
did pay a lot of money back in the 78's ,only to have a re-painted trunk
:roll:

We will take our time to try any restoration,we will look for the better way
to accomplish that goal.

frankiefry · Feb 2, 2010

Old Trunk

If there aren't any good restoration people to be found, how about museum curators? A lot of times the bigger museums have their own in-house curators who care for the items in the museum. They might have some advice for you, or if all else fails you have the internet. Do a google search for antique furniture restoration and see what you come up with. Another place where there could be a secret compartment would be the bottom of the trunk itself. It could be false also. The paper lining inside could be hiding some 'rub' marks where the bottom has been moved. If it is just wallpaper, you could try just warm water on a sponge to loosen it since you wouldn't be doing any damage to the integrity of the trunk. Isn't it a shame what some people call restoration? Over here, origional condition always carries a premium value over restored, but some people think shiny looks nicer. : (

Rammjäger · Feb 2, 2010

I am also expectant what this wallpaper hides ... there could be,
for instance, old seals or marks brandmarked on the wood.
We suspect the "restoration" could have been made by her sister-in-law,
because
when my wife called the seller in order to arrange a collect date she said
she didn't agree of selling the trunk and rather keep it
But since it was her mother-in-law decision,she had to agree as well... :wow:

I will now google for information about restoration procedures.

~Alan~ · Feb 2, 2010

As Frankiefry says, get some advice before doing anything else to it. Also get someone to verify it's age. There are a lot of forgeries out there.

frankiefry · Feb 2, 2010

Old Trunk

I just had a thought. If you haven't paid for this trunk yet, you don't want to be messing with it. But taking a few measurments, if it's in your possesion, will answer your question of whether or not it has any secret compartments. Measure the inside of the candle box, then the outside of it and add the width of the side piece of wood. Also do the same with the inside depth versus the outside. If there is any discrepency then you have a possiblity of extra space hiding under a false bottom. Please let us know what you find out. : )

kireta · Feb 2, 2010

I love this!! Original key, and I couldnt imagine what it has seen.Their is an old root beer barrel with a draft tap in the bottom of it at a flea market Ive been eye balling. Has a wonderful old color, and you can smell rootbeer!!

mello1 · Feb 2, 2010

dont restore it yourself it'll bring down the value, if you do decide to restore it have somebody do it for you. btw very nice find there congrats

Rammjäger · Feb 2, 2010

mello1 said:
dont restore it yourself it'll bring down the value, if you do decide to restore it have somebody do it for you. btw very nice find there congrats

I payied for it 23 euros (aprox. 35 dollars) but I know similar ones are in
price range from 100 euros to up several hundreds .
One point against it ,I guess the cover is not original.Perhaps the original
one was so deteriorated that they descided to change it .

swuycheck · Nov 8, 2010

Any updates on your restoration?

Rammjäger · Nov 8, 2010

swuycheck said:
Any updates on your restoration?

No,
we didn't restore it. Leave it just as it is instead.
But perhaps some day in the future

In the meantime we found a comfortable corner for it at our kitchen.
Everybody likes to seat there and my wife keeps many usefull things
inside.
It is a great feeling to have such a piece of history at sight ...and
besides usefull.
I took some pics with the flashlight .It is still possible to recognize
the old paint underneath. Under the "D" is one of the "N" from
ANNO . Under the "8" is a larger "8" as well as a larger "0" under
the "0". Hope you can see them too.

Old trunk

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