Lock, Johannes Wilkes, Birmingham, 1680-1710
Record status
Individual type · partial
Period
1680-1710
This type of lock is a rim lock, with its mechanism entirely enclosed in a case to be mounted on a door. Unlike later mortise locks that were built into doors and might match the overall decorative scheme of a room, rim locks could be removed when the owner moved house, to be fixed to a door in the new house. Locks and keys were symbols of ownership and authority.
Lockplates and key escutcheons, made of highly reflective materials, provided the finishing touches to decorative schemes. English locksmiths were based mainly in London and the Midlands and were renowned for their ingenuity. Wolverhampton produced, according to one writer in 1686, locks ‘curiously polisht and the keys so finely wrought, that ‘tis reasonable to think they were never exceeded’. Wilkes is perhaps the most famous of all the English locksmiths of this period because several of his ingenious detector locks have survived (see V&A Museum No. M.109-1926). Door lock and hasp with steel mechanism and blued steel covering plate in rectangular pierced brass case, the border engraved with leaves and scrolls, the pierced ornament with twirling vines, sunflowers and tulips.
The lower border is signed, "Johannes Wilkes de Birmingham Fecit".
Evidence at a glance
- Linked sources
- 1
- Photograph views
- 3
- Catalogue references
- 0
Counts describe this entry’s documentation, not authenticity, rarity or completeness. Photographs may show one specimen; check each caption and licence.
Historical context
This lock has open scrollwork in brass contrasting with a ‘blued’ steel base. This lock has four bolts to control security levels. The machanism of an identical lock in the Peter Phillips Collection was described by its owner as follows: "The master of the house could select, by turning the small knob at the top of the lock, the number of bolts (1 to 4) that he wished to put into operation.
When set at number 4, which is maximum for locking the top 4 bolts are locked out by just turn of the key, but 4 turns of the key are required to withdraw these, ie. one at a time! There is however literally a "sting in the tail" of the top bolt, the one last withdrawn, for it triggers off the twin anti-burglar bottom bolts, and these can only be unlocked by a reverse action of the correct key."
The Museum bought this lock for £6 in 1859. The bold proportions and twirling ornament are unmistakeably Baroque and would complement contemporary decoration in the house without necessarily matching exactly. On this example, even the inner workings are finely decorated.
The complicated mechanisms of locks made rooms secure while their intricate patterns in steel and brass turned their locks into works of art.
Physical characteristics
- Material
- Steel, brass, forged and chiselled, blued
- Dimensions
- Length: 14.1 cm; Height: 12.1 cm; Depth: 7.8 cm; Depth: 2.3 cm
Technical characteristics
- Maker recorded
- Wilkes, John
- Place recorded
- Birmingham
Design
- Marks and inscriptions
- "Johannes Wilkes de Birmingham Fecit".
Identification
- Source note
- Transcribed from the Victoria and Albert Museum, London collection record for this single object (sentences kept verbatim apart from removed sale or rarity wording); how far it represents a wider collectible type has not been independently verified.
- Candidate id
- vam-O380844
- Museum object name
- Lock
- Holding institution
- Victoria and Albert Museum, London
- Museum object number
- 5405-1859
- Museum system number
- O380844
Catalogue references
No catalogue numbers recorded. Numbers are only published once transcribed from a verified edition of a standard catalogue — they are never inferred.
Research required
- Research required: confirm the wider type, maker and dating against a specialist reference; this entry documents one recorded example.