Dated 18th century Spanish (probably Colonial) embossed cow-hide dome-topped trunk - Presumably for ecclesiastical vestments, the cover with abbreviated lettering ‘ROPAS Y BSSS SRA YMGNES A?O DE I774 Y’ (translated as ‘ROPAS Y VESTIDOS SAGRADAS IMáGENES A?O DOMINE 1774 Y’, retaining traces of original red paint, the interior with silver braid lacing, the foliage-embossed body with iron carry handles, 109cm x 57cm x 46cm high - Provenance: Purchased in Hotwells, Bristol in the early 1950s by the mother of the current owner. The Spanish Colonial attribution, perhaps to Colombia, has been independently suggested by Sofia Rodriguez, Director of the Museum of Decorative Arts in Madrid, and Nick Humphrey, Department of Furniture, Victoria & Albert Museum. Condition: Unrestored, but with some fading and staining to hide which could be ‘fed’ back to a pleasing patina. Some losses to frill of cover. Cover is detached at hinges (so is removable). - **General conditin consistent with age. The vendor believes that this trunk was probably made by indigenous labourers in Colombiam and that it could perhaps have arrived in Bristol either via the sherry trade or with Princes Maria Eugenia de Montijo, who came to Clifton to study in 1837. She later married Napoleon III.