EXTREMELY RARE 20thC ALUMINIUM BOUND MAIL LOUIS VUITTON TRUNK, FRANCE, c. 1888

DESCRIPTION

An extremely rare opportunity to own one of the rarest Louis Vuitton trunks ever made. One of the characteristics of Louis Vuitton as a trunk maker in the late 19th century and early 20th century was the willingness to use innovative materials in their manufacturing process. In order to appreciate the rarity of a trunk bound by aluminium, one has to appreciate that aluminium was only discovered in the first half of the 19th century, just a few decades before this trunk was manufactured. Known as the “white gold of Napoleon“, people adored aluminium’s colour and lustre with the sparkle of gold and silver. It was a brand new precious metal which became dearer than gold in the 19th century as it was harder to obtain and not found freely in nature.

Imagine in today’s terms a trunk bound in a material more expensive than gold and with the functional properties that aluminium gives; a metal that is lightweight, that does not corrode and does not tarnish. Imagine the marvel of the customers when Louis Vuitton constructed a trunk in 1888 incorporating a material so precious, so rare and so innovative that most people had never even seen before. Louis Vuitton worked with this wondrous new metal and exalted its properties by constructing a trunk which was equally beautiful and lightweight like no other trunk before its time. A pioneer in the art of trunk making, he achieved his goal by reducing the thickness of the wood construction of the trunk, by removing the usual zinc lining to the exterior base of the trunk and instead of using brass or steel for the metalwork, he used aluminium trim, solid aluminium pins throughout, aluminium corners, an aluminium central lock and even the handle plates were made out of aluminium. He knew that although aluminium was an incredibly lightweight material it had the characteristic of being very flexible therefore he could not construct the handles and latches in aluminium. He opted to make these features out of steel which was hard and durable, and would only add a negligible amount of weight. However, just as aluminium does not rust he needed the steel not to rust either. He circumvented this problem with black oxide finishing (also commonly referred to as bluing) which is a traditional way to finish steel and protect it from corrosion.

The result was outstanding. Here was a lightweight trunk which was at the cutting edge of technology, finished in a material more precious than gold, which sparkled like silver, and more lightweight than any other metal, precious or otherwise. It would have been one of the first that Louis Vuitton ever made in aluminium trim. In fact it is in our opinion the oldest of such trunks. As Louis Vuitton in London changed address of his store from Oxford Street to The Strand in 1888, we know by looking at the label that this trunk must predate 1888. Upon closer inspection more details are revealed. The “wonder material” was so expensive that the pins are considerably smaller (In later trunks he would galvanise the pins with aluminium rather than making them in solid aluminium). His attention to detail however did not falter, putting his logo in relief rather than embossing. The trim itself is about half the thickness of later models too (probably as the metal became more abundant and therefore cheaper).

In a nutshell, we are looking at the earliest of models of aluminium bound trunks we have ever encountered, probably one of the first ever to be produced and (at the time) probably the most expensive, the most exclusive and the most awe-inspiring trunk the world had ever seen. It took the master of all trunk makers to manufacture a jewel of a trunk which would be the envied and revered in equal measure. In today’s market, aluminium clad Louis Vuitton trunks are the rarest and most sought after by any collector with auction prices reaching six-figure sums:

https://www.christies.com/en/lot/lot-6177673

Condition: The Damier canvas has been cleaned. In the interest of keeping the trunk’s originality, it has not been restored or tampered with in any way. There are areas along the trim where the aluminium has broken away due to the brittle nature of aluminium and the thinness of the trim (see photographs). It can be restored by a competent restorer but it is our opinion that it should be left in its current state, its defects not detracting from its appeal and rarity.

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CONDITION

In Great Condition - wear and tear consistent with age.

SIZE

Width: 80cm
Depth: 44cm
Height: 42cm