You think, where am I going to handle all my gold coins?
Well, in an antique strongbox that can be used as a perfect vintage decoration as well!
If you want to find an antique one, be prepared to carry it! They were all very heavy, even empty!
It all began in England, with an impregnable lock. In 1784 Joseph Bramah patented a mechanism that was impossible to force, and founded the Bramah Locks Company. An American locksmith, Alfred C. Hobbs, succeeded in opening it and in turn he began to manufacture strongboxes. As for the armour plating, this we owe it to two British brothers, Charles and Jeremiah Chubb, who invented it in 1835. The Chubb lock company was founded in 1818. Jeremiah has invented the “Detector Lock” winning him £100 in a government competition to create an un-pickable lock that could only be opened by its own key. His “Detector Lock” mechanism was designed to automatically jam the lock as soon as any attempt was made to pick it, and thus would let the owner knows about the unauthorised attempt.
Ten years earlier, in France, a certain Alexandre Fichet had opened a locksmith shop in Paris.
The fact that ship’s strongboxes have become particularly sought-after items is probably owed to their striking designs, with their iron cladding, wrought-iron keys and long nails and their invisible locking mechanism, along with customized decorative motifs in brass (strongboxes containing pharmaceutical items, for example, sported a caduceus).
With a shape that is often encountered in the plots dreamed up by Arthur Conan Doyle and in other fictional tales from the 19th century, the strongbox is perhaps the most iconic piece of industrial furniture of the Industrial Revolution. During this period of fierce economic competition, it soon became indispensable, holding as it did the cash, patents and valuable papers that guaranteed a company’s survival. The fact that it was fireproof, one of the major selling points of industrial furniture, also served to increase its sales.
Nowadays, they are practical, strong but not really aesthetics. Why not trying to find an antique one and use it as a vintage decoration with all your treasures inside of course! Next to a vintage chesterfield sofa, it would look stunning!
Visit La Boutique Vintage for more inspiring ideas of Vintage Decoration.