Rare Leather and Brass Tacked Wooden Traveling Trunk, possibly New York, circa 1820

Sotheby Parke-Bernet, November 16-18, 1972, lot 396
Skinner Auctioneers, Boston, Massachusetts, "The Estate of Elisabeth T. Babcock of Woodbury, Long Island," November 15-16, 1985, lot 131
David A. Schorsch, Greenwich, Connecticut, as agent, 1985

''A Place for Us: Vernacular Architecture in American Folk Art," American Folk Art Museum, 1996-97
"Hearth and Home: Architectural Selections from the Collection," American Folk Art Museum, May 20-September 21, 2003

American Radiance: The Ralph Esmerian Gift to the American Folk Art Museum, p. 101, fig. 65

Interior in very good overall condition; exterior leather with wear appropriate to use and age.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

During the late eighteenth century, Americans became confirmed in a constant pattern of migration that still persists as a part of their national character. Between 1790 and 1840, the system of roads expanded exponentially, and overland travel by stagecoach, wagon, and horseback increased.¹ To transport personal belongings, people needed sturdy compartments that could withstand the rigors of the road. Unlike delicate pasteboard bandboxes, which needed to be handheld to survive rough trips, trunks were made from wood covered with dressed hide and studded on the exterior with brass tacks in decorative patterns, sometimes including the owner's initials. Hide-covered trunks were often cylindrical in shape and were intended primarily for stagecoach travel, during which they were fastened on the outside of the coach. This type of trunk appears in inventories from the seventeenth through nineteenth centuries, with early valuations ranging from one pound to six shillings.²

Instead of a maker's label, the interior of this example is lined with paper that is painted with a horizontal frieze of houses punctuated by vertical trees with widespread leafy branches. An additional repeat of circular geometric motifs completes the similarity of the lining to papered, stenciled, block-printed or freehand painted wall coverings of the first quarter of the nineteenth century. –S.C.H.

¹ Jack Larkin, The Reshaping of Everyday Life, 1790-1840 (New York: Harper & Row, 1988), pp. 206, 211.
² Nina Fletcher Little, Neat and Tidy: Boxes and Their Contents Used in Early American Households (New York: E.P. Dutton, 1980), p. 33.