You would like a trunk to your colors, coated with a fabric in accordance with your home?
You are looking to have your trunk canvas or leather cleaned?

Choose on the spot or on our website (page “Trunks for sale”/”to be restored”) the trunk that suits you, give us the guiding lines of what you wish, we will then give you the necessary fabric length and will coat the trunk of your choosing to your liking!

You own a trunk which is dear to you, linked to your memories, to your family?
You have no time or no skill to renovate it?
Your trunk has an embedded value, either sentimental or financial, and you do not want to let it get spoilt in a nook. You eye on a beautiful trunk on a flea market but it is totally screwed up…

Customization to your initials

You find a trunk on our website and would like us to restore it. The restoration cost differs to a large extent according to the trunk and the requested works.
A simple trunk will be restored for a budget of around 200 euros; a wardrobe trunk is obviously a lot more complex!

Some reference restoring times:
- Exterior and interior restoration of a classic trunk. Disassembling, washing, brushing, sanding, wood stain, wax and interior coating represent about 20 to 30 working hours depending on the model of the trunk.
- Exterior and interior restoration of a wardrobe or cabin trunk. The interior padding of a wardrobe trunk takes about 10 hours + about 2 hours per drawer.

Rollandjpr (at symbol)  gmail.com

Example :

  Our first public order : 

Thank-you card from the Biscarrosse Museum

The Museum of Seaplanes in Biscarrosse entrusted to us a bentwood banded trunk from the twenties for us to restore it while keeping the original spirit. The trunk will be exhibited by the side of a period hostess dummy!

Should you choose a “wooden” trunk, this color chart can be sent to you high-definition so that you can choose the shade that suits you.

Obviously enough, if the canvas of your trunk is in good condition, keeping it is the best solution as much from an economic or historical point of view as an aesthetic one.

Do you need help knowing the value of your trunk?

Send us photos of the 6 sides with the dimensions, we will do everything to help you determine the history and possibly the value of your object.

We believe, as a professional, that this service is free but does not have expert value for insurance companies. An expertise is carried out by an expert paid for it, and not by a restorer Only a professional expert recognized by the courts will be able to carry out a complete expertise.

We give you an estimate, not an expertise since this cannot be done on photos. An expertise is carried out with the object in front of him, the expert commits to the authenticity and not to the value of the property. List of necessary information to help you evaluate a trunk (both in terms of work and the value of the piece): - 1 photo of the front, bottom and back - 1 photo on each side - 1 photo of the interior + the dimensions of the room + the writings written on labels, locks, nails, straps...

For any estimate request on a VUITTON trunk, please read the blog article before

How much for my Vuitton in the shop window ?

DETERMINING PRICE or VALUE ANALYSIS

(Valid for our purchases or our sales!)
As you will notice, prices are not necessarily linked to the time spent for restoration. What determines the value of a trunk? Apart from the 4 great references that are Goyard, Vuitton, Moynat and Hermès, the price of a trunk depends on some basic criterions.

1 Dimensions :

The larger a trunk is, the more expensive. Over one meter, it is an exception and the price rises proportionally; below 40 cm as well because it is a less common small trunk.
Standard dimensions are:
Classic trunk around 80x50x40 cm
High trunk around 80x60x40 cm
Steamer trunk (large) 90x50x50 cm
Cabin trunk 100 x from 33 to 36 cm high x 50 deep
Wardrobe trunk: small from 80 to 100 cm x 40x45 cm, large from 100 to 160 cm x50x50 cm.

2.Materials and jewelry

A trunk equipped with splendid solid brass locks will have a higher value than the same trunk which would have ordinary tinplate locks.
Brass handles will be preferred to metal handles; finely cut leather handles in excellent condition will themselves be more sought-after than basic bent iron handles.
A leather trunk binding is much more beautiful than the same one, pigskin or metal made.
You will find bindings made of:
- Leather (the best)
- Leather parchment
- Metal
- Lozine or vulcanized fiber (often mistaken for leather)
- Papier-mâché (often mistaken for fiber or leather).

3 Period
A trunk from the 1900s will be preferred to a model from the forties or fifties.
A trunk from the 1850s is rare.
Finally, most of the 18th century trunks are seldom in good condition.
Not very common, they are not much sought-after nowadays; it is a case where rarity is not synonymous with value.
The same goes for Vuitton for instance where the trunks from the beginning (1854) with grey or black canvas have almost no market value, while a trunk with the same dimensions but with monogram canvas will have a very good value.

4 Models and shapes

The “market” has always had a preference for dome top trunks; therefore they generally have a higher value. However they are not always the best choice…
A dome top trunk can only be used as a decoration, whereas a flat top trunk can be used as a coffee table, a bedside table, small exhibition shelves, etc.
Bentwood banded trunks often meet these two requests: decoration and practical side.
Very unusual trunks (American trunk, metal coated trunk, trunk with special labels, commode trunk, harp trunk, wardrobe trunk, etc.) are so hard to find in good condition that their value is always higher than the one of identical items without originality.
The uniqueness of France:
In some countries, such as the United States and in a lesser extent Switzerland, a trunk must be totally refurbished to be appreciated, whereas, here in France on the contrary, a trunk must be restored judiciously and kept as close as possible in its original state. Thus a trunk with its original canvas, if the latest is unusual (striped, damier, crocodile, leather…), will have a greater value even if it is sprinkled here and there with marks or other small tears.

5 Condition
A totally new trunk would have no soul, little charm… By contrast a trunk that would crumble into dust at the first impact would be of no use.
So the general condition of a trunk is very important. We abstain from tampering. We do not want any trunk whose wooden parts would have been changed. It is important for us not to buy, and consequently not to sale, trunks whose heart is not original.

6 . Putting on sale an item from the museum
Indeed it may happen that we sale a trunk that was prior exhibited in our museum; that happens when we replace a trunk with another one which we have just found and which seems to represent even better its style or its generation.

In view of the great number of baggage pieces which come back to us damaged and needing to be restored, from now on we shall rent only in the following way:

The trunk is SOLD and then, when he does not need it anymore, the client proposes it back to us with photos and we set a buying back price.

Custom-made trunks :

- Historical reconstructions, special events, theater scenery, car external trunk, desire for luxury, need for exclusivity and unique product… Let’s create together and custom-make the trunk you need!

- We will design together the trunk you wish while respecting traditions, with poplar wood and new or period parts. Canvas, fabric, leather for the exterior, trays, drawers, various layouts for the interior.

Everything is possible; it is only a matter of imagination… and of budget.

Trunk with shelves for Miele France

The project concerns the creation of shelves coated with a Miele monogram for the layout of the new Miele Paris shop.

Wardrobe trunk for 12 pairs of shoes

Antique trunk with fabric coated interior and brass bars for 12 pairs of shoes
+ briefcase for shoe polish accessories.

Antique trunk safe, laid out for a watch collector

With a first 12-compartment tray to accommodate watches and cases,
A second tray underneath for the accessories

Wardrobe trunk converted into a champagne bar

Glass shelves, LED lamp, drawer for accessories.

TV trunk with remote-controlled lid opening

The trunk is 120 years old. The 22-inch plasma TV has just come out.
Our customer wished a combination of the two, in front of his bed.
The DVD starts… The TV turns on et the show begins.
Watch the video

CD/DVD trunk for a musician

Ocean liner cabin trunk converted into a CD trunk. We pad the interior of a cabin trunk and create removable or fixed shelves in order to store more than 350 CDs

Car external trunk (project for a Morgan car)

The curve of the car is respected to enable to see through the rear window. A protection makes it possible to attach the trunk on the baggage rack. The trunk, which takes up the available space at the rear of the car, can contain a wardrobe, a storage place for shoes and various drawers.
Two castors and a retractable handle will bring the driver an additional moment of pleasure when he will arrive with his Morgan car and unload the trunk

Trunk for Champagne and jewels (project developed for the Byblos hotel in St Tropez)

The trunk contains a 9-liter bottle of Champagne, 4 flutes and a set of jewels from a famous Place Vendôme jeweler. A black leather original creation with leather edgings, suede-like interior, name of the client embroidered with gold thread, personalized and numbered brass plate, brass jewelry, interior LED lighting, removable jewelry box, built-in mirror with sliding flap

Order from Disney Studios

Creation of a set of fake baggage intended to be molded to make a railway station decor.
(In collaboration with Pierre Ilg, from La malle au trésor).

The steps of our on-request restoration service:

- You send us by email digital photos of your trunk or a design of your project (we need the 4 sides, the top and the bottom).
Depending on your trunk’s specificity, rarity and financial or sentimental value, we propose you a possible restoration type. Once you have looked into it, we draw up a restoration price quotation, according to your result requests.
- You send us your trunk or leave it to us.

We will be able to do the following work:
- Minor exterior restoration
- In-depth exterior restoration
- Restoration of the hardware
- Replacement of certain parts
We work with different products for the exterior and interior trunk coating, from paper to leather, through a whole range of upholstery fabrics.
Once our price quotation accepted, we take a series of photographs throughout the restoration work and regularly send them to you by email so that you can follow the progress of your trunk. When the work is terminated, we send you by protected parcel your completed trunk.

Reconstituted trunk

Each nail, each metal part, each wooden slat has been taken off, treated and restored separately. The nails, for instance, are straightened out and polished one by one.
Once these steps done, the trunk has been canvas re-coated for a complete refurbishment. To that end, we use the current product named Griffine, equivalent to the yesteryear coated canvas.
After the laying of the canvas, the trunk is reassembled like it was originally built when created.
That kind of restoration is particularly long and tricky. Indeed one must be careful not to break the antique parts which are, most of the time, more than a hundred years old

Video trunk

Transatlantique branded trunk converted into a video or Hi-fi trunk.
Space for flat screen TV, DVD player, 4 side drawers, 1 for DVDs
Interior electrification thanks to built-in multi-plug adaptor
Neon tube lighting system with built-in switch

Trunk for a dressing

Exterior restoration of the wardrobe trunk for a harp
Interior restoration and coating
Electrification and putting in of footlights
Fitting of brass bars for shoes
Putting up of oak shelves (see Wardrobe section)

Trunk for laptop PC, printer and keyboard

Wi-Fi PC + printer + keyboard BT + external hard disk set up comfortably in their trunk.
Once closed, the trunk lets nothing show. Cables are grouped together in a recess designed for that purpose.
Period commode trunks are reinterpreted: that trunk is created from an existing basis of the 1910s.
The original trunk is dismantled and then leather re-coated. The front face is hinged in order to enable an easier access.

Its patent dates back to 1875 but it did not reach success among the public before the 1890s.
The restoration of a wardrobe trunk is rather similar to the one of a standard travel trunk; however the major differences are the following ones:
- The dimensions (obviously enough, larger dimensions mean more work)
- Small wardrobe trunks (0.80m high and 30cm for each side)
- Classic wardrobe trunks (from 0.80m to around 1m high and 5cm for each side)
- Large wardrobe trunks (over 1.10m high)
- The care given to the interior layout: unlike the other trunks, some of which are sometimes equipped with one tray only, the wardrobe trunk is always a lot more complex: with drawers and clothes hangers in most cases; sometimes you will find a folding writing desk, a fixing system for hats or for irons, or mere compartments for shoes, shirts…
- The used materials: unlike flat or dome-top trunks which are often made of solid poplar wood, in most cases wardrobe trunks are made from plywood, laminated wood or fiber The whole trunk (like the other trunks this time) is covered with coated canvas, pegamoid, more seldom leather, canvas, sheet metal, etc. and for the most recent ones, with plasticized coating.

Detailed information on restoration techniques is available in our Travel trunk restoration guide = Le guide de restauration des malles de  voyages.

EXTERIOR RESTORATION

Example of a large wardrobe trunk for which only the exterior part was restored
The canvas, beyond repair, had to be taken off and it was decided to restore with an oak shade wood stain. That could be done because the coating canvas was glued on a laminated, but solid, wood; plywood would not have withstood restoration.
It was necessary to:
- Take off the canvas, clean the hardware and jewelry
- Sand, apply the wood grain filler treatment, etc.
- Apply wood stain, wax, then polish



















Example of a canvas coating pasted on plywood.
The coating has been dyed again (it is not leather) in order to safeguard it and thus to preserve its antique appearance; then it has been waxed with black wax.
The below trunk interior has been washed to be kept.
(Note the fiber binding – not leather one as people often believe).

INTERIOR RESTORATION

Here above is the first step of a wardrobe trunk restoration.
Of course you will first take off the canvas from each drawer, then from the sides of the trunk.
Once this done, you will have to disassemble the whole interior jewelry and the following parts: handles of the trunk and of the drawers, cleats of the drawers, arched door, shelves…
After that, it is essential that you sand the drawers to deduct 2 mm in order to enable the replacement of the drawer fabrics by fabrics most often thicker at that time.
For the coating, do as you would for a trunk (cf. The antique trunk restoration guide).
Reassembly will be done either with clinch nails according to best practices, or, in a more modern way, with rivets.
The objective is to have no flush fixing which would prevent the drawers or layouts from sliding.

For example:
 











Before and after restoration on a Cosmopolis trunk

Wardrobe before

smell and stains...

Wardrobe After