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Lot 454

A Very Rare English Door-Lock
By John Wilkes, Birmingham, Late 17th Century

Antique Arms & Armour

1 December 2009, 14:00 GMT

London, Knightsbridge

Sold for £6,600 inc. premium

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A Very Rare English Door-Lock
By John Wilkes, Birmingham, Late 17th Century

The mechanism of iron with single sprung catch and single locking bolt, all encased in a four-piece brass cover stepped and fluted on three sides, the main plate engraved at its borders with foliage and spiral ribands, all on a hatched ground, signed 'John Wilkes' below the key-hole, and pierced and engraved with entwined branches bearing berries and flowerheads, and complex brass handle of two flower-shaped panels joined horizontally by orbs, with its finely chiselled and pierced iron key, and a later brass striking-plate (3)
14.2 cm. wide (excluding striking-plate)

Footnotes

Cf. two very similar locks in the Victoria and Albert Museum. The first (inv. no. 207-1879) is signed 'Johannes Wilkes Fecit De Birmingham', and the second (inv. no. 5405-1859) 'Johannes Wilkes De Birmingham Fecit'

John Wilkes (d. 1733) also made more elaborate door-locks fitted with a detector, showing how many times the lock had been opened. Some are still in English country houses, and one is now in the Victoria and Albert Museum (inv. no. M 109-1926). A Wilkes detector lock was sold at auction by Tooveys (of West Sussex) in June 2008 for £10,000 plus premium

Additional information

This sale is now finished. If you are interested in consigning in future sales, please contact the specialist department. If you have queries about lots purchased in this sale, please contact customer services.
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