INDUSTRYNEWS
SPONSORED BY ASSA ABLOY
Cast iron, lion’s mask
doorknocker. A late
use of this design,
dating from c.1855,
Godalming, Surrey.
This fine example of a
stylised Arts and Crafts
thumb-latch is made
of malleable iron. It
came from a large
Arts and Crafts villa
built in 1905 in Queens
Drive, Oxshott, Surrey.
Fifties style I this streamlined
aluminium grip handle
design, circa 1956,
is from an office
conversion, Grand
Buildings, Trafalgar
Square, London.
Fifties style II - circa
1957 saleboard display
of plastic cupboard
handles from a
hardware shop in
Claygate, Surrey. 1987.
Fifties style III aluminium lever
handle from director’s
office, Kenwood
offices, Old Woking,
Surrey, built circa 1957.
Aluminium, easily
wrought into simple,
clean designs, became
a popular material for
door furniture in the
1950s, superseding
pre-war materials
such as brass, wood
and Bakelite.
Shutter knob and
catch from India
Buildings, Cutler
Street, City of London.
Built by the East India
Company, 1796.
The facts of fittings
The evolution of window and
door ironmongery and fittings is
fully represented in The Collection,
explained from its wrought-iron
beginnings to the stylised Bakelite
examples of the 1930s and on to the
streamlined aluminium suites of the
1950s and 60s.
The transition from wrought iron
to brass, the complex evolution of
locks, mortice handles, lock spindles,
hinges and bolts are all illustrated
with thousands of examples. The
fascinating evolution of door-knockers
and letterplates can be appreciated by
examining the many fine examples in
The Collection. Window ironmongery
is charted from the 16th century to
the 1960’s, highlighting useful dating
methods such as styles and sash pulley
types and the ingenious engineering
approaches adopted.
To read more, visit www.locksmithjournal.co.uk
Into the future
The Collection is entering a new and
potentially exciting phase. The vision
is that it will become still more of a
source of inspir