A battered old storage trunk bought for £12 is set to fetch thousands at auction - after it turned out to be a Louis Vuitton original. A dad snapped up the steamer trunk in 1984 after spotting it in a bric-a-brac shop in St Margarets, near Twickenham in London.
He paid £12 for the luggage which he gave to his daughter to help her store her belongings when she moved into a cramped flat. The daughter, who is just giving her first name Melissa, stored sheets and linen in the trunk for years before realising its true value.
Melissa took it along to the Antiques Roadshow last year and was stunned to learn it was worth up to £6,000. Melissa, 56, said she is now selling the 100-year-old trunk to protect it from her cats.
The estates officer, who lives in Middlesex, said: “We foster cats and I have to keep the trunk covered up all the time to stop them using it as scratching post. My dad bought the trunk in 1984 from an old bric-a-brac/antiques shop in the village of St Margarets, near Twickenham in London where we used to live.
“He got a job up north but I didn’t want to go. He bought me the trunk to use as there was a lack of storage in my first flat. I put linen in it. I’ve always used it but, over time, I kept noticing the name Louis Vuitton crop up more and more on TV antiques shows.
Last year, she emailed TV’s Antiques Roadshow to get a valuation and they asked her to take it to the show. "I was quite surprised," she said.
"Everyone who knows me was laughing because I don’t like having my picture taken, let alone being on telly. I went along to the event at Ham House in Richmond upon Thames and their expert valued it at £3,000-£5,000.”
The designer trunk, which is more than 100 years old, is now potentially worth even more. Inside it is a copy of the Guardian newspaper which shows the date Melissa’s dad bought it – September 3, 1984.
It will be go under the hammer at Hansons London on July 30 with a guide price of £4,000-£6,000. Melissa said: “The trunk has been authenticated by Louis Vuitton.
“According to the serial number on the trunk, it was originally sold between 1909 and 1914. I’ve always looked after it but now I think it’s time for someone else to own it and appreciate it.”
