Fifteenth Century Locks, Hinge and Key, Pugin Collection, Antique Print, 1851

This is an original antique chromolithograph, printed in gray iron tones over a bright vermilion red, lettered "SERRURES ET PENTURE DU XVe SIÈCLE ET CLEF (Collection de Mr Pugin à Londres)". Four iron pieces share the page. A long vertical strap hinge runs down the left side, pierced with Gothic tracery and studded with square rosettes. At the upper right is a large square lock plate under a cresting of leaves, its two hasps meeting over the keyhole and its ground filled with pierced flamelike tracery, bound with twisted rope moldings. Below it is a smaller rectangular lock plate with tracery panels and a central keyhole, and to its left, below the large lock, hangs a small key with a scrolled bow. The red backing shows through all the pierced work.

The running head reads "LE MOYEN-AGE ET LA RENAISSANCE." and "FERRONNERIE" (ironwork). The credits are "Rivaud del.", "Chromolith. Lemercier, R. de Seine 57, Paris." and "Kellerhoven lith.", with "F. Séré direxit" at the foot. In English the caption reads: Locks and strap hinge of the fifteenth century, and key (collection of Mr. Pugin, London). Rivaud drew the plate, Kellerhoven put it on stone and Lemercier printed it in color.

Paul Lacroix, known also by his pen name the Bibliophile Jacob, edited Le Moyen Âge et la Renaissance with Ferdinand Séré as director of the plates. The five volumes appeared in Paris between 1848 and 1851 and cover the customs, crafts, sciences and arts of medieval and Renaissance Europe, each chapter illustrated after objects then held in public and private collections. The present plate comes from the fourth volume of 1851.

With its lettering intact, the plate suits a plain mat and a simple frame, and it hangs well beside other plates from the same chapter.

This is an original antique print, not a modern reproduction. This item is sold unframed.