Late 18th Century Wrought Iron Italian Antique Hobnail Studded Safe Strongbox

Beautiful handmade oak silver chest. It was made to hold valuables such as silver coins, jewels or maps. This was the precursor to the modern day safe. It is due to its age beautiful...

Originally used as a safe or strong-box, this antique iron trunk remains a trustworthy vault for treasured possessions. Made in 19th century France,...

A very striking 18th century Coffre Forte - Safe - from Northern Italy. Masterly crafted from iron and wood. Wonderful patina and storage. A fabulous piece to serve as a coffee ta...

An English small-sized wooden box, circa 1770-1800. This antique box from England has been lovingly hand-carved with four quartered-wheels at each inner corner of the central panel, ...

A Spanish strong box from the 18th century. This antique safe from is constructed or iron clad wood, and is handsomely adorn in domed iron nailhead trim throughout it's top, front, a...

An impressive, solid wood, period, hinge-top document box completely covered in tole and incised brass with delicate foliate designs throughout. The inside lined in a vibrant, scarle...

18th Century Welsh strong box with carved detail.  

Very large slurry box with parts in native wood veneer, marquetry nets and geometric decorations in marquetry on the top. The box rests on four arched feet in the Louis XV style. Thi...

A rare and unique church collection box from Northern Italy. Beautifully constructed from thick planks of walnut with intriguing carving detail. A wonde...

Royal House Antiques Royal House Antiques is delighted to offer for sale this important, Museum Quality German safe circa 1680-1720 attributed to Johann Gottlied Dittman and Sigmund Gatchen Please note the delivery fee listed is just a guide, it covers within the M25 only for the UK and local Europe only for international, if you would like an accurate quote please send me your postcode and I’ll provide you with the exact price Where to begin, if you are looking at this listing then the chances are you know something about antique safes, if you do, then you will recognise just how rare this piece is, I have in all my online research only found one other that was in a terrible condition, it sold in the Sotheby’s Carlton Towers sale on the 4th November 2009, the sale price was £73,250 plus commission which at the time was 30% making the final sale amount £95,225 This example was missing the original key, all the silver finish had polished off and it was rusty, mine by comparison is in absolutely sublime order throughout The original key is present, it operates the exceptionally heavy top lock which has 22 separate locks, each lock works independently so if a thief tried to force one open, it would have no affect on the remaining 21 locks The front of the safe depicts a bird possibly an eagle, the top has a medieval locking plate cover which splits down the middle to reveal the entrance to the lock, it looks similar to a fleur de lis, it springs closed when the key is removed and has its own lock, it has a secret to unlock it, if you don’t know it, you can never fit the key. The sides have oversized handles as they need to be, the safe must weight in excess of 100kgs, the rear has a similar medieval crest The finish is sublime, truly exquisite, this is a work of art and will be the centre piece and pride of any collection, I have absolutely no desire to sell it whatsoever, if it stays in my collection forever so be it, I will never have the chance to own such a piece again and it is an absolute pleasure to see it each day For a similar strong box signed to the interior by Dittman and Gatchen and worthy of comparison see a very fine example from The Alphonse de Rothschild Collection which was sold on the 26th of March 1973 at the De Rede sale in Monaco as lot 167. The Rothschild box...