Impressive 19th Century Hobbs & Co Safe

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Impressive 19th Century Hobbs & Co Safe

About the Item

Impressive safe made by the company Hobbs & Co. Londen United Kingdom The unique feature of this safe is that it has two protector locks. To this day these locks are very difficult to open without the key. The safe is in beautiful original condition. (Keys are new) Size: 48 cm x 48cm x H. 63 cm. Weight 100 kg -130 kg The Protector lock (also called the "moveable lock") was an early 1850s lock design by renowned American locksmith Alfred Charles Hobbs, the first man to be able to pick the six-levered Chubb detector lock at the Crystal Palace Exhibition in the year 1851, which was created with the intent of being a lock that could not be picked. Before Hobbs and his revolutionary lock designs, locks were opened by making a series of false keys, in a process that could take extremely long periods of time; if the series was not properly completed in the lock, and the combination not exactly correct, the lock could not be defeated. This design was accepted as quite unbreakable until Hobbs became the first to be able to pick them, by using very fine and careful manual dexterity; applying a certain level of pressure on the bolt while manipulating each lever, one at time, using a tiny pick inserted through the keyhole.[1] In an attempt to create a better locking system, Hobbs proceeded to patent the Protector lock, which, complex in design as it was, involved a transfer in pressure between the lock's internal bolt and tumbler mechanisms to a fixed pin.[2] Hobbs claimed that his design was impossible to defeat and superior to the locks that were then in use, but, in 1854, one of Chubb's locksmiths was able to crack it, aided by the use of special tools.[3] The Protector Lock was distinct from Hobbs's other major lock design of the time, which he called the "American lock", and which slightly preceded the protector lock, in various ways; while the "American lock" was complicated to use, and expensive to purchase, with the added disadvantage of requiring a very big key, it did not differ greatly from the Protector lock so far as the security it offered, and the Protector lock was described as being much simpler to use. Hobbs became one of the founders of the lock making firm of Hobbs Hart & Co. Ltd. The company started in 1851 and was formally registered as Hobbs and Co. in 1852. But by 1855 it had become Hobbs, Ashley and Company. The name then changed to Hobbs, Ashley and Fortescue, with an address at 97 Cheapside in London. Then for the next ninety years the address was 76 Cheapside in London.[9] In 1860 Hobbs returned to America and lived in Bridgeport, Connecticut, and went on to hold a dozen patents for firearm ammunition manufacturing. In 1880 he listed himself as a "Superintendent Of Cartridge Factory".

Creator:
Hobbs & Co. (Maker)
Dimensions:
Height: 24.8 in (63 cm)Width: 18.9 in (48.01 cm)Depth: 19.9 in (50.55 cm)
Style:
Victorian (Of the Period)
Place of Origin:
United Kingdom
Period:
1850-1859
Date of Manufacture:
1855
Condition:
Wear consistent with age and use.
Seller Location:
Eindhoven, NL
Reference Number:
1stDibs: LU160028849343