Varon’s Old Storage Trunk: A London Tale Of Travel And Time

The funny thing is, even though this trunk looks beat-up, it works in a modern home. Minimal interiors actually make the colours pop. The scratches and paint chips add contrast you can’t buy in a shop.

When I first stumbled across the circus clown trunk, shop antique chest I froze for a moment. The painted face staring upside down across the front felt like more than decoration. It felt like a memory of a lost world — a carnival gone by.

I still think about when the circus came to town once a year. Posters glued to walls promised elephants, art station website fire breathers, acrobats — and always clowns. Looking at the trunk feels like it was there backstage, stuffed with costumes and props, waiting for the show to begin.

Chests aren’t just wooden boxes. They’re keepers of journeys. Before cheap mass storage appeared, trunks were the way people travelled. Built solid, storage trunk heavy duty, sometimes decorated with brass corners or painted lettering.