Small domed trunk

1806-1810

Measurements

7-1/2 in x 14 in x 8-1/4 in

Materials

Leather; probably white pine

Credit Line

Historic Odessa Foundation, gift of H. Rodney Sharp

Accession Number

1959.3679

Condition Notes

The leather has split across the top of the trunk.  All of the leather exhibits deterioration.  A few small sections of the brass-tack leather strips are missing.

Provenance

Ex coll. H. Rodney Sharp

Comments

The newspapers lining this leather-covered trunk come from the October 20, and October 13, 1806, editions of the Montgomery Republican, which commenced publication in Johnstown that year.  By the mid-18th century, Johnstown was an important frontier community northwest of Albany and site of Johnson Hall (1763), built by New York Indian agent Sir William Johnson (c. 1715-1774).  Given that saddle and harness makers might also make trunks, and that brass furniture handles and tacks and iron locks were available from store merchants, it seems reasonable to place manufacture of this trunk near the supply of newspaper, which likely did not travel too far in comparison.

The slightly rounded front and back of this trunk curve into the domed lid.  It attaches with simple snipe hinges, made with interlocked wire eyes seated into the wood.  These hinges suggest non-urban manufacture where sturdier leaf hinges were readily available.  The design of the trunk is attractive but basic, having thin strips of leather, affixed by regularly spaced brass tacks, holding down the edges of the leather coverings. Diamonds formed by brass tacks secure the centers of the leather panels to the wood frame.