Antique trunks are essentially chests used for travelling purposes. Earlier when people travelled, they used these trunks as luggage to carry their articles. Nowadays, we use lightweight wheeled luggage for the same purpose. And these trunks are used as antique pieces by collectors. 
Trunks come in different shapes, sizes and decorations. They are often handmade of unpainted wood. Some have brass inlays, while others are canvas, leather or decorated sheet metal as inlays.  In the early twentieth century, trunks were covered with vulcanized fiber or undecorated metal.