Box for my camp

[Omahkapi'si]

Picked this up at an antique joint today. I was thinking it might be ok in my wedge tent to keep a cooler in, out of sight. It said late 1800’s on it but who knows? Anybody have any ideas? Wooden box covered in hammered brass. Pretty chunky to lift. Think it might fit a primitive style camp?
Regardless it will get used.

 

[mushka]

It's an old cold box I think.

 

[Omahkapi'si]

Cold or coal?

 

[deerstalkert]

either a cold box or a tea chest. the liner would have had a porcelain or even a pewter lid on it to keep the tea fresh. tea would have been in brick form. maybe a camp or tea house storage box.
looks like Chinese to me from the 1800's.

 

[Omahkapi'si]

I’ll have to get on antiques roadshow…

Wonder if it's one of these....vaguely similar
https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot/antique-hammered-brass-kindling-coal-box-197-c-b88490c81f

 

[deerstalkert]

coal and kindling chests were mostly stationary. yours was meant to move about . those handles and brackets strike me as being Asian
.Chinese or Nippon.
boxes just about match my love of muzzle loaders.

 

[Omahkapi'si]

Well if it's Chinese it fits right into Canada...they pratically own us.

 

[TNTraveler]

Nice looking chest, with the pull out inner box and as thick as the walls are my guess would be a cooler of some sort, I,m in the process of building a wooden cooler for myself, just started glueing up boards today, I'll post pics when its done

 

[deerstalkert]

Well if it's Chinese it fits right into Canada...they pratically own us.

makes us brothers then don't it. keep expecting to get change in yuan.

 

[Omahkapi'si]

Now I have to come up with a story of how my frontier/mountain man persona came across an Asian tea box one day and it ended up in his camp....maybe they were crossing the divide and got caught in an avalanche....the box survived since it's so heavy duty.

 

[deerstalkert]

It was the camp box for the Chinese railroad workers. when the RR was finished it got left in a station along the line. the Mad trapper found it and hauled it off.

the more i look at those handle brackets the mor i lean to Japanese.
i would be proud to have it in my collection.

 

[James Dietz]

TNTraveler, I look forward to seeing those pics! As for the box of RanchRoper...I like it!!

 

[Omahkapi'si]

One things certain, I won’t be storing black powder in it….

 

[waksupi]

Looks like a heavy ol' pig to lug around. I've used elk hides to make parfleche boxes, with different historical tribal designs painted. I toted around heavy wooden boxes for years, and once even a steamer trunk when I was still married. The parfleches made my load a lot lighter, and when I got rid of the X, I went from a pickup with sideboards to haul everything, to now being able to easily haul my full camp in a car with room left over!