Object Record
Images
Metadata
Catalog Number |
2023.12.1 |
Object Name |
Trunk |
Description |
Small trunk owned by Abigail Appleton. The top of the chest is pine and the remainder is a light-colored hardwood. The lid is 1-1/2" high, with dovetailed corners and a pine board nailed to the top. A small batten on the at the upper inside sides and front help seal and locate the lid when shut. The sides of body of the chest are dovetailed, and the bottom is inset and nailed through the sides. An iron lock is affixed the upper edge of the front of the chest and the iron hasp is attached to the lid. The lock has a brass escutcheon around the lock hole and a brass tab, intended to hang over the lock hole and pivot away, which is broken off. The handles on the ends are iron and are affixed to the chest with clenched nails. On the bottom of the box is a paper label with Canterbury Shaker Bertha Lindsay's handwriting in blue ink which reads: "This Shaker made box / originally belonged to [Abiga]le / Appleton of the Enf[ield, N].H. / Colony Given to her / sister Margaret / Bertha Lind[say, Canterb] ury." Around this label appears to be the remains of old glue where a larger label had been affixed. The letters "AA" are written above the label in this old glue. Red paint on the bottom appears to be transferred - no evidence of original paint exists. Clear finish is of an unknown era. There is a key taped to the bottom inside the trunk. |
Credit line |
Purchased with funds provided by Carolyn A. Smith and Richard C. Dabrowski |
Date |
Late19th/early 20th Century |
Dimensions |
H-10.25 W-0.002 L-6 D-12.75 inches |
Material |
Hardwood/Nails/Iron/Bronze |
Place made |
Enfield, NH Shaker Village |
Lexicon category |
3: Personal Artifacts |
Lexicon sub-category |
Personal Gear |
Interpretive information |
The museum has several similar trunks in its collection. This one is associated with Abigail Appleton, and one of the others with Margaret Appleton. The three trunks are similar to each other, but not exactly the same in dimensions, wood, joinery, or the handles. The locks are quite similar. Two of the boxes are associated with individual Shakers, the third box is personalized with valerian labels glued to the inside. See related objects for the other two trunks. The boxes seem to speak to an era when personal items would be common enough to require storage trunks. The Appleton sisters moved from Enfield to Canterbury. Were the boxes made for the move? Did all members have a trunk in the later years of the community and are there many more to be discovered? |
Related items |
Show Related Records... |
Linked documents |
Read Abigail Appleton's biography on the museum's website. |