Object Description
A painted green leather on camphor wood trunk from Canton.
This trunk is edged in brass with a double row of close brass studs to give further protection. Brass studs are also used for a decorative swag to the front. It has brass carrying handles to the sides and stands out from most other trunks for its removable turned feet. The majority of Chinese Export trunks were made without such feet. The lid has a ring handle to lift it and the escutcheon is shield shaped. The back has been reinforced with a later strip of leather which acts as an additional support to the iron hinges. A few sections of the brass straps have been replaced over time.
The interior is lined in the original decorative paper with a faint label for Ashoe to the lid. As Carl Crossman notes in The Decorative Arts of the China Trade, Ashoe was a prolific Cantonese maker of trunks with a workshop at 9 Carpenters’ Square in the first half of the 19th century.
This is a useful sized trunk which sits well for being on turned feet. The size is such that it would be good for a coffee table or use at the end of the bed. Early 19th Century.