Lot 321A

19th C. American Hide & Wood Stagecoach Trunk - AEG Brass-Stud Monogram

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Lot 321
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19th C. American Hide & Wood Stagecoach Trunk - AEG Brass-Stud Monogram
19th C. American Hide & Wood Stagecoach Trunk - AEG Brass-Stud Monogram
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19th C. American Hide & Wood Stagecoach Trunk - AEG Brass-Stud Monogram

Estimate: $500 - $750

Starting Bid: $250

(0 Bids)
by Artemis Fine Arts
June 25, 2026 9:00 AM MDT (In Progress)
Live Auction
686 S. Taylor Avenue
Suite 108
Louisville, CO, US 80027

North America, United States, American, ca. 1840–1880 CE. A barrel-topped traveling trunk sheathed in hide stretched taut over a wooden carcass, its domed lid built to shed rain and snow on the open road. Hand-driven brass studs march along the seams and trace an oval cartouche on the lid, spelling the owner's initials, "AEG," in a constellation of gleaming dots. Iron hardware, handles, lock plate, and reinforcing joints, anchors the corners and bears the weight of hard use. The cowhide or deerskin covering has weathered to a mottled, parchment hue, its surface scuffed and crazed from decades of loading and unloading. Such hide-clad trunks rode lashed to stagecoaches and railway cars across nineteenth-century America, prized for their light strength and a personalized monogram that distinguished one traveler's baggage from another's in a crowded boot. Size: 27" W x 11.4" H x 13.5" D (68.6 cm W x 29.0 cm H x 34.3 cm D).

The dome or "barrel" top was both practical and fashionable in the mid-nineteenth century: its curved lid let water run off when trunks were stacked or strapped to the exterior of coaches and early rail cars, and it signaled that the piece was not meant to be the bottom of a stack. Brass-stud monogramming, here forming the initials "AEG," was a common bespoke flourish, allowing an owner to identify personal luggage at a glance amid the shared chaos of a stagecoach boot or depot platform.

Provenance: private Colorado, USA collection

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Item # 203317

  • Condition: Fair. Tears, losses, and peeling to leather as shown. Locking mechanism no longer functions. Heavy weathering and signs of wear throughout. Patina to metal.

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Bid Increments
From: To: Increments:
$0 $299 $25
$300 $999 $50
$1,000 $1,999 $100
$2,000 $4,999 $250
$5,000 $9,999 $500
$10,000 $19,999 $1,000
$20,000 $49,999 $2,500
$50,000 $99,999 $5,000
$100,000 $199,999 $10,000
$200,000 + $20,000