BELMAL, Private Museum collection of Travel Trunks and Restoration (Belgium)

BELMAL (an acronym from "Belles Malles", French for beautiful trunks) is a private collection of travel chests and steamer trunks. Based in Belgium, the collection features a small museum that houses a selection of luggage with a unique history, as well as a number of related travel and manufacturers' objects. Other trunks, many of which await restoration, are stored in the BELMAL warehouse-archive, also located in Belgium.

The idea of a museum originated from the academic world, after the discovery and purchase, by J.P. Bal, a Belgian professor, of a trunk that belonged to Prof. George L. Raymond, an American university professor who travelled in Europe in 1890.

The passion of the collection's founder is quite simply rooted in the immanence, since 1967, of a Louis Vuitton mail trunk that had its own space in the house where he spent his childhood. More than forty years have passed, and the lovely brown leather 'LV' chest now mixes with other "great travelling trunks" in the museum.

Operating under the tutelage of a non-profit organisation, BELMAL also offers restoration services to private owners of vintage luggage, with a special focus on trunks dating from the late 19th century to the first half of the 20th century (or approx. 1870 to 1940). These include the so called steamer or transoceanic trunks. Other types of luggage, such as hat trunks, bags, toolboxes, and suitcases made by various trunk manufacturers, are also being restored.

The names of the international brands and makers found in the collection and archive include: Delvaux, Oshkosh, Friedrich, Delhopital, Rascher, Taymans, Aux Etats Unis, Duval, Barnum, Gulliver, Folding Trunk Company, Grands Magasins du Louvre, Hamilton's, William Bal, Old England, Raich, Moritz Maedler, Belber, Hammel, Truyen-Bertou, Victor, Grand Bazar de Paris, and of course a series of Moynat, Goyard Ainé, and Louis Vuitton trunks.

Examples of collection trunks that are currently displayed on our website: Folding Trunk and Louis Vuitton More trunks and objects will be shown online soon, in the virtual visit section of the museum.

For further information about the collection, the documentation archive, or the restoration services please contact the BELMAL management by email at: info@belmal.be Access to the collection, archive, and workshop, is only possible on special appointment.

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