Large Travel Trunk

Large 19th-century travel trunk with a flat lid. Inscribed "GMC 10". Made of wood with wooden reinforcements. Brass edges and locks. Metal nails. Interior without its canvas. The left-side handle is missing. The trunk is probably the oldest piece of furniture. The word dates back to the 9th century, derived from the High German "Malaha" or "malha," meaning satchel. The chest is the oldest piece of furniture and one of the few surviving pieces from the Middle Ages. At that time, it served as a chair, a table, a trunk… Trunks have existed since humans began to travel. Their production, however, accelerated with the development of rail transport in the 1870s. You will therefore find more trunks dating from after this period. There are two main types: – "huches" with flat lids, built by carpenters using small axes, – "bahuts" with domed lids. Production continued to increase until the 1930s and 40s, and it was after the war that the trunk more or less disappeared. The last remaining trunk makers are: – Vuitton, Goyard, Ephtee (Bordeaux), La Malle Bernard, and Old England (which no longer manufactures).