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Lot 25
Ornamental Turning Lathe No. 1741 and Cabinet of Accessories Holtzapffel & Co., London, 1840
19 August 2025, 12:00 EDT
Skinner Marlborough, MassachusettsUS$70,000 - US$90,000
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Elizabeth Muir
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Amy Griffin
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Paul O'Hara
Sale Coordinator & Cataloguer
Ornamental Turning Lathe No. 1741 and Cabinet of Accessories
Holtzapffel & Co., London, 1840
Mahogany bench with treadle powering a 33-inch cast iron bar and 27-inch wheel, the front rail fitted with unusually long 47-inch steel bed, equipped with three-inch riser blocks for headstock, compound slide, and tailstock; the headstock signed and marked "1741" equipped with five-inch center lathe, for a total of eight-inches (16-inch swing) on the riser, overall wd. 53, dp. 32, ht. 53 in.
Sold together with a Holtzapffel mahogany cabinet, the glazed top section containing five shelves carved with custom cutouts mostly populated with lathe accessories and tools, including one very unusual straight line cutting frame; one elliptical cutting frame; six box chucks and fifteen cup chucks; thirty-two drills; a set of bevel and straight gears; Holtzapffel marked rulers, calipers, triangles, and squares; one curvilinear banjo arm with twelve curvilinear steel patterns; six worm gears; four ornamental turning chucks marked "1741"; twenty-three standard cutting frames; two slide rests with eleven tool holders; one 9-inch and one 10-inch faceplate; and several wrenches to fit the lathe. The lower case with two cabinet doors stocking seventy-two predominantly Holtzapffel turning chisels, opening over twelve graduated drawers that contain: four tool rests; one modern cutting frame; wrenches; drill handles; bevel gears; spare tool posts; a set of stepped gears; one box of unusually-shaped, sharp cutters; one mahogany box holding cylindrical drills and cutter sharpening stones; two slide rests; one adjustable tool holder; one dowel sizer; a set of fourteen D-bits with handle; and other miscellaneous cutting tools, cabinet overall wd. 43 1/2, dp. 19 1/2, ht. 87 in.
Mahogany bench with treadle powering a 33-inch cast iron bar and 27-inch wheel, the front rail fitted with unusually long 47-inch steel bed, equipped with three-inch riser blocks for headstock, compound slide, and tailstock; the headstock signed and marked "1741" equipped with five-inch center lathe, for a total of eight-inches (16-inch swing) on the riser, overall wd. 53, dp. 32, ht. 53 in.
Sold together with a Holtzapffel mahogany cabinet, the glazed top section containing five shelves carved with custom cutouts mostly populated with lathe accessories and tools, including one very unusual straight line cutting frame; one elliptical cutting frame; six box chucks and fifteen cup chucks; thirty-two drills; a set of bevel and straight gears; Holtzapffel marked rulers, calipers, triangles, and squares; one curvilinear banjo arm with twelve curvilinear steel patterns; six worm gears; four ornamental turning chucks marked "1741"; twenty-three standard cutting frames; two slide rests with eleven tool holders; one 9-inch and one 10-inch faceplate; and several wrenches to fit the lathe. The lower case with two cabinet doors stocking seventy-two predominantly Holtzapffel turning chisels, opening over twelve graduated drawers that contain: four tool rests; one modern cutting frame; wrenches; drill handles; bevel gears; spare tool posts; a set of stepped gears; one box of unusually-shaped, sharp cutters; one mahogany box holding cylindrical drills and cutter sharpening stones; two slide rests; one adjustable tool holder; one dowel sizer; a set of fourteen D-bits with handle; and other miscellaneous cutting tools, cabinet overall wd. 43 1/2, dp. 19 1/2, ht. 87 in.
Footnotes
Provenance
Two years in the making, this matching lathe and cabinet set was first sold on 31 August 1840 to Thomas Villary, for a reported combined price of £424. The lathe passed to Mr. R. Brown in 1866, and then to C.C. Balfour in 1877. In 1997, the lathe traveled to the United States, where it has been under the care of Mr. Steve Johnson.