Circa Early 1900's
For Our Friend Terri And Family
Completed November 2007
wished it restored as it belonged to her husbands father, who worked for the railroads in years past,
and they wished to bring into their home.
At 42" long, this is a massive antique trunk. It is loaded with hardware and the once light green
canvas still firmly attached. The inside retains its original tray. It was decided to save the canvas
because of its fine condition and reline the inside in a fabric which Terri selected and sent with the
trunk. The tray is to be left exposed wood.
No real repairs were necessary and our efforts were directed at ensuring the detailing of the
restoration were top notch. In restoring a canvas trunk take your time with the paint. It is a lot of
hours.....accept the fact. A major key to success is to ensure that all the lines are crisp. On this trunk
there is probably a quarter mile of area where one surface adjoins another. It's a funny thing but
cross those just a few times and the eye will pick it up and the authentic perception is quickly lost.
Executed with care, the mind finds it "believable" as being authentic.
The entire trunk was first well cleaned and the inside made ready for a new covering and the
outside canvas prepped. We wanted to leave some signs of age and bring out the massive amount
of hardware by shinning it up a bit although some of the original brass coating does remain. Some
of the original black was also left on the metal trim as it adds another color and highlights the dents
and creases of the metal to help with our "old but nice" look. This particular trunk was so large it
needed yet another color, so some gold accents were carefully applied. The slats were left slightly
dull and the canvas was repainted a satin green. Leather handles were applied and a working key fit
to the lock.
the originals and a final go-over was performed on the bottom. Next a very nice patterned designer
fabric was used to line the inside of the trunk and the original tray given a new bottom and a little
stain to darken it a bit.
patience with us as the work was being performed.