‘Scaramanga Vintage and Retro Interiors and Fashion

Captain Jack Sparrow

Pirates: ships, wooden legs, eye patches, parrots, skull and cross-bones and… gold filled treasure chests. The treasure is the fundamental element; the typical pirates obsession. We all know of the notoriously famous Edward Teach a.k.a Blackbeard or the popular Captain Jack Sparrow from the Pirates of the Carribean - attacking other ships and stealing their cargo as his treasure.

Aside from the known facts such as Blackbeard’s existence, are the myths and fantasies which surround the notion of piracy. This includes the emblematic myth of pirate’s treasure chests: large wooden chests which pirates used to carry around their loot. The reasoning was that such wooden chests were used by pirates because they were easy to move around in order to avoid their being stolen by other pirates or government troops and officials. If they feared a chest’s imminent seizure, they could bury it in a remote location and, with the aid of a treasure map, return and claim the treasure at a later date. However, although this scenario of pirates chests and treasure maps always features in the common ‘pirate fairytale’, and reports of buried pirate’s treasure have been made for centuries, none has ever been found.

Pirate's Treasure or Booty in Pirate Speak

As a result of this romantic scenario, through the ages pirates’ chests have been considered a symbol of wealth and mystery. With such positive connotations of wealth, combined with their unique design style, the pirate chest has also always been considered a thing of beauty – both back in the day and in modern times too. Typically wooden, iron bound, and featuring handles and a strong padlock. Today an old wooden chest, coffer or trunk is still an interesting and increasing popular piece furniture piece in peoples home today.

 Modern day ‘treasure chests’ might come in various shapes and sizes: from smaller memory boxes or jewellery chests with lots of compartments and trays, padlocks for keeping your ‘treasures’ locked away, to larger blanket and storage chests which will make a more bold pirate-style statement.  Whichever size and style suits your personal taste, Scaramanga has a wide range of antique and vintage wooden chests, coffers, trunks and boxes which look like pirates chests, for storing your own personal valuables. So, whilst there may never truly have been any buried pirate’s treasure to discover, the beauty of the treasure chest need not remain a myth – you can display one in your own home.

A Scaramanga Small Wooden

 Scaramanga specialises in antique wooden chests, old trunks, antique coffers, kists, blanket boxes and antique storage boxes. We probably have one of the widest ranges in the UK. Each antique wooden chest and trunk has been meticulously restored by skilled craftsmen to ensure it can be used for many years to come.

A Large Old Blue Chest and Small Dark Wooden Chest