A Louis Vuitton steamer trunk sold for £130,000 at John Nicholson’s last month. Now, after a second Explorer model fetched £72,000 on July 23, collectors are lining up to consign luxury luggage to the Fernhurst auction house.

The 1920s-era wardrobe trunk that made headlines in June was clad in metal – zinc, copper, brass or aluminium – designed to withstand tropical travel. Though missing its paper label and most interior fittings, the surviving elements confirmed it as a double wardrobe model. Engraved with the Vuitton name and early London address on New Bond Street, the trunk sparked a fierce bidding war among 11 would-be buyers, with the winner in the room.

Just weeks later, another Explorer trunk crossed the block, this one bearing the sales number 42316. A curious feature of the interior label shows the company’s former Oxford Street address manually amended to The Strand, evidence of a label re-use policy following the 1889 move. Estimated at £20,000 to 30,000, it soared to a £72,000 hammer price.

A more modest travelling trunk with handwritten sales number 30539 also performed well, achieving £5,400.

The saleroom is not done yet. Among the latest consignments is a Courier trunk dated to c.1885–90. Estimated at £6,000 to 8,000, it boasts a Boer War-era provenance, having voyaged to South Africa aboard the Union Castle Line in 1900.

“These results have cemented our reputation for Louis Vuitton,” said auctioneer John Nicholson. “The phone hasn’t stopped.”

With more vintage Vuitton on the horizon and global interest climbing, Fernhurst may well become a byword for designer trunk auctions. Live online bidding continues at www.johnnicholsons.com