While similar, the typical "Sea Chest" was smaller than a stowage chest but a bit larger than a ditty box, and was usually owned or issued to an individual to store personal belongings and food stuffs, change of clothes, items from home and things picked up in far flung ports. These sea chests were safely stored below decks where the sailor kept his bunk, sometimes even in a stateroom or cabin. A sea chest was in many cases well made, personalized, many had nautical designs or scenes etched into them, certainly the sailors name or initials engraved somewhere on it.
Now the "Stowage Chest" was normally larger than a sea chest and was used to store ships gear such as mess gear, rope, tools, pulleys and blocks, weapons such as cutlasses, boarding axes and firearms. The exterior of stowage chests were typically painted a dark green, sometimes red, and haze gray with many having multiple layers from years of being used. Not many stowage chests have survived their use; especially ones used above decks or on the weather decks where they were exposed to all the rigors and elements of sea service, ie; wind, rain, ice, sun, sea spray, salt water and certainly rough use. The insides of most chests were not painted and the pine wood left bare. All had a small compartment situated up near the top and to one side to store small items
NOTE: In the photo to the left are a bunch of sailors and two stowage chests with a sailor sitting on one in the right foreground and another one in the right background. Photo taken circa 1890s aboard either a newly commissioned Armored Cruiser or Battleship.
The construction and material used by both sea chests and stowages chests had much in common, as they needed to be inexpensive yet sturdy to withstand the rigors of their environment. Typically all were about 40" in length, 20" in width and 20" high and made of pine wood except for some of the more expensive personal sea chests. Early 19th century chests used "6-plank" construction meaning all four sides, top lid and bottom were all made from single planks of wood, with dovetailed joints securing the four sides. Single plank construction was much sturdier and ultimately lighter than using multiple planks for a single side. The lids of virtually all sea chests and stowage chests had an extended front and sides with the left and right sides each having a 2" skirt. The extended lids and skirts helped prevent water and the elements from getting inside the chest.
All sea chests and stowage chests had wooden cleats on both ends to hold "rope beckets" which were used to lift and haul the chests around the deck. All chests also had flat bottoms, some had skirts and some did not, to easily move them on deck. Many of these chests had the classic slanted sides where the bottom of the chest was wider than the top to help keep a low center of gravity on a pitching and rolling deck.
Finding real authentic sea chests and certainly stowage chests are next to impossible as they have been lost to time and use, especially the stowage chests which were used on weather decks!
This stowage trunk was certainly not used on the weather decks but most likely in an Officers or Captains stateroom or cabin. Note the fine craftsmanship, dovetailed joints, wooden side cleat, no exterior paint however the top of the lid shows that it had seen a fair amount of use.
Note the closeup of the wooden cleat and the interior of the chest where some lid repairs to strengthen the integrity of the lid. Note also the inside rear hinges and side skirts.
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| Customer Photographic Examples of our Antique Trunks Being used as a Military or Naval Retirement Shadow Box and Storage Chest!! |
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| Note the Flatop and Two Monitor or Waterfall Trunks, Each Being Individually Unique at the Very Time of Production. |
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We all romanticize about the mystique of these antique trunks. The possible owners and travels that each steamer trunk has taken, along with the high level of detailed craftsmanship in the original production of each and every steamer trunk with that individualized character giving both intrinsic and non-intrinsic value. |
It was a common practice that loyal and productive craftsmen would be allowed to bring their children to work with them to learn a craft, so many of the children in this photograph were more than likely sons of the men shown. |
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