Antique Campaign Chest By A&N CSL For Solomon Bros.

A brass bound, teak Campaign Chest with a maker's stamp under the top right drawer for the Army & Navy CSL.

The chest is fairly standard in design with a stronger, Patent Acme lock by Edwin Cotterill to the top right drawer. It splits in 2 and has removable, turned feet as you would expect and is a good if not ordinary campaign chest.

It is a little more than that though in that it confirms a theory we have held for a long time. Besides retailing Barrack Room furniture to its members, the A&N CSL also wholesaled furniture to other companies. The A&N CSL stamp is hidden from view, whereas chests they retailed normally have an inset plaque to the top of a drawer. The top right hand drawer has a stronger Cotterill & Co. Acme patent lock with its distinctive escutcheon. To the back of the chest is a partial label for Solomon Brothers of Aldershot, who would have purchased the chest from the A&N CSL. They were furnishers who both rented and sold furniture to regiments and individual soldiers who passed through the camp. Perhaps because a large part of their business was rental, items marked Solomon Bros. are rare. The only other pieces we have had with their name is a pair of washstands.

The teak is a good colour and the chest is made to the quality you expect from the Army and Navy CSL but has the added interest of the Solomon Bros. label. Late 19th Century.