Images(8)

Trunk

Date1819

Maker Christopher Hudson

OriginAmerica, Virginia, Richmond

MediumYellow pine, leather, brass, iron, paper, and textile

DimensionsOverall: 14 × 30 × 15in. (35.6 × 76.2 × 38.1cm)

Credit LineMuseum Purchase, The Friends of Colonial Williamsburg Collections Fund

Object number2024-379

DescriptionRectangular trunk with flat lid, covered in black leather and decorated with brass nails; lid ornamented with rectangle of brasses around perimeter with large oval around “MADE BY/ CHRISTOPHER HUDSON/ JANUARY.1819” with hearts in corners between oval and rectangle; front and side edges of lid outlined in brass tacks with horizontal serpentine line of tacks across center of lid edge; lower outline of tacks secures leather flap or apron around front and sides of trunk lid; front of trunk outlined in brass tacks with horizontal serpentine line across top section, straight horizontal line below with three swags and four pendant tassels outlining stars in end swags and diamond (possibly square and compass) in center; iron hasp on front of lid and rectangular iron lock in center top of front with brass escutcheon cover; back of trunk outlined around lid and case with two swags with three pendant tassels and two circular motifs within swags; end of trunk outlined in brass tacks with a double line swag and two pendant tassels with iron carrying handles at each end, center, near top of case sides; interior of trunk lined with wallpaper printed in greens and purple with repeating vertical motif and vertical green vine with purple flowers; three leather hinges nailed to inside of chest; textile tape nailed inside proper right end of lid and case; thin, narrow boards nailed around perimeter under bottom board.
Label TextThe brass tacks that typically adorn leather trunks and boxes from the 16th-19th centuries were both practical, holding the leather to the wooden substrate of the trunk, and ornamental. Christopher Hudson, a Richmond, Virginia cabinetmaker, used the tacks to advertise that he had made this trunk in 1819. As a cabinetmaker, Hudson likely produced fine mahogany furniture as did his business partner in the "CABINET BUSINESS" of 1820, James Rockwood. While no other furniture by Hudson has been identified yet, Rockwood's elegant and labeled mahogany card table of c.1815 descended in the Stewart family of "Brook Hill", the family's Richmond home (MESDA S-6165). Was this trunk the sole example of Hudson's work in this line or did he produce more trunks yet unidentified as his work? One other trunk manufactory is known in Richmond during the early 1810s. Peter Cottom advertised that he had a trunk manufactory at his book and stationary store in 1813. Four years later Cottom advertised for the return of William White, and enslaved man described as a "rough carpenter" who "has been employed in making and finishing trunks." The trunks produced in Cottom's trunk manufactory were almost certainly produced by White and perhaps other enslaved workers rather than Cottom, a stationer and book seller.
MarkingsIn brass tacks on lid "MADE BY/ CHRISTOPHERHUDSON/ JANUARY.1819"
ProvenanceEx. Coll. Marshall Goodman, Richmond, Virginia, discovered in the Richmond, Virginia area; sold at Jeffrey S. Evans & Associates sale Sept. 23, 2023, lot 1314.