Antique 1890's Swedish Steamer Trunk

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This chest crossed the Atlantic from Sweden in the 1890s, carrying a family’s entire life in one box. The hardware, … Read more This chest crossed the Atlantic from Sweden in the 1890s, carrying a family’s entire life in one box. The hardware, wear, and construction are authentic to the period, built to survive harsh travel and decades of use. What you’re seeing isn’t décor, it’s an artifact of migration, endurance, and the belief that the future was worth carrying everything into.

The chest is constructed from thick hardwood planks reinforced with hand-forged iron strapping and riveted steel bands, built to withstand months of handling, ports, trains, and steamship holds. The domed top was intentional, preventing other cargo from being stacked on top of it during transit. The original brass lock plate and latches are still present, worn smooth from generations of use, and the patina on the wood is the natural result of 135 years of handling, weather, and movement. This is not a reproduction or a decorative piece, it is a lived object that carried a family’s entire future across the ocean and has survived because it was built with seriousness and purpose. See less