The Neville Blakey Lock Collection, an extraordinary archive of locks from the 16th to the late 20th century, is set to go under the hammer at Tennants Auctioneers in a timed single owner sale which will be open for bidding from 17th December to 14th January.
Jeremy Pattison, Tennants’ Auctions Director, says: “This is a unique collection, lovingly put together over a lifetime by master locksmith Neville Blakey of Lancashire, and it covers almost every aspect of the locksmithing art, from vast antique door locks to Armada lockboxes and machinery locks.”
One of the sale highlights is an elaborate French Early 18th Century Engraved Lock, likely a prototype made by a lock maker wishing to make an impenetrable combination lock, which will be offered with an estimate of £5,000-7,000. The lock has twenty-four bolts and is operated by turning the key twenty-two times; the key itself is a fine replica made in 1993 by T.W. Watson, Master Locksmith. Also of note are an Early 18th Century Dutch Engraved Brass Rim Lock engraved with cherubs (estimate: £800-1,200 all figures exclude buyer’s premium), a 17th Century Oak-Cased Lock with provenance from Tealby Manor in Lincolnshire (estimate: £600-800) and a Mid-19th Century Six-Ring Iron and Brass Puzzle Lock (estimate: £600-800). Notable too, are a Rare 17th Century Chest Lock with three different keys (estimate: £200-300), a 17th Century Armada-Type Small Strong-Box likely made in Germany (estimate: £400-600) and a lot of Ten Assorted and Polished Metal Warded Keys from the 18th Century and Later (estimate: £300-500).
A collection of locks removed from doors in Litchfield Cathedral, will be sold alongside intricate locks from public lavatories, safes, castles, and aristocratic houses, along with Victorian Chubb and Bramah locks and a vast array of warded keys and padlocks. The collection will be on view to the public on Wednesday 7th January and Thursday 8th January at Tennants in Leyburn, North Yorkshire.
ABOUT THE COLLECTOR
William Neville Blakey was born in 1914, and lived over the family antique shop in Brierfield, Lancashire.
After attending the local school until he was 14, Neville began helping in the family business, and took a great interest in clocks, pictures and antique furniture. However, times were hard, and he chose instead to enter the ironmongery trade at a large outlet in nearby Burnley.
Enlisting after the outbreak of the Second World War, life in the Army took Neville overseas, including to Egypt, where he worked on aeroplane instruments. Wherever he was stationed, Neville would send antiquities back to his family shop and made numerous useful contacts.
By the end of the war, Neville was ready for a new challenge, and although he was offered a directorship in the ironmongery business in which he had worked before the war, he instead started a locksmiths after being approached by people to use his skills to help fit keys to locks.
His locksmith business thrived, as did the family antiques and restoration workshop, and soon he moved into larger premises. As he replaced locks for customers, he would keep the old locks – and thus evolved his extraordinary collection of locks.
Neville was a visionary locksmith and safe engineer, and he designed and built master keyed suites for homes and factories as well as being a founder member of the Master Locksmiths Association.
Outside of his businesses, Neville was a talented organist, holding posts at the local parish church and covering for absent organists at other churches. In his spare time, he built the largest concert organ in Europe and held monthly concerts with organists from around the world, including American Carlo Curley and the former Prime Minister Sir Edward Heath.
Neville continued to work regularly into his nineties, and J H Blakey and Sons (Security) Ltd is now in its 120th year, providing specialist locksmithing services nationwide. The company is still family owned and run.
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