I primarily used these images as references for the treasure chest model:
The one on the left was the primary reference for the shape, I primarily used the right image as a loose idea for the latch.
After modeling the shape from the reference image, I added some textures from online to ultimately achieve this final animation:
The primary problems I encountered were actually with the UV mapping for the textures, which was a wholly painful process. There are still some unwanted artifacts that can be seen in the animation as well as the following images, but overall I am pleased with how it turned out.