Important master lock in chiselled iron from the... Lot 130

Important master lock in chiselled iron from the late 17th or early 18th century. Rectangular in shape, it has a richly moulded frame surrounding three compartments. The central compartment features a strongly protruding chiselled pediment moulded in the shape of a gendarme's hat supported by two Doric columns in the round. The interior of the pediment features the openwork gold monogram of the postman JBP for John Baptist Plato. Between the columns, a large lion's head is carved in high relief on a door with a fretworked top that serves as an entrance cover. A pull tab hidden in the lock's frame allows the opening of the entrance hatch to be triggered. On either side of this portico are two openwork panels with scrolls and foliage scrolls with "rocaille" decoration, each surmounted by a count's crown. On the other side of the lock, the mechanism is concealed in a polished iron case with a very curved side contour. In the centre of the case, the false caseback with strongly protruding circular mouldings is surrounded by a fine frieze of small openworked volutes. An identical piece of work decorated with elegantly cut and pierced foliage decorations, slightly protruding above the strongly molded bottom of the headpiece. The lock is complete with its four fixing rods finished with pretty nuts drawing two opposing chiselled Cs. Inside the case, the mechanism has two bolts. Iron turned chiselled, pierced, openworked, slightly engraved. Height: 9.5 cm - Length 17 cm Provenance: Sale Spitzer, 1893, n°891 (reproduced). Reference: La fidèle ouverture ou l'art du serrurier, Rouen 2007, n°208 in the exhibition catalogue p. 202.