Tittley cabinet lock.

quartermastergeneral

Hi,
just found this website and hope to help others with research and hopefully get some answers my self.

I am an antique dealer and have always found locks to be a great way of helping to accurately date pieces of furniture.

Knowing makers dates along with other info such as an owners name and stylistic details of a piece of furniture all help us to accurately pinpoint its date.

Anyway, we have just purchased a 19th century cupboard with two locks made by a company called Tittley who we have never heard of.
Interestingly, the lock , in this case, is dated, numbered and has Taylors improved lever stamped on it. the date is 23rd september 1851.
The number is 468 on one and 467 on the other. It also says “slide cap”

So , does anyone have any information on this maker?
Does anyone know the dates for Taylors improved lever. I have see this before but don’t know their history.

I shall try and upload pictures of the locks as soon as I can photograph them.

Tom Gordon

less experienced readers of this should be aware that locks are often changed at a later date which would often leave some indication on the wood. More problematic though is that many pieces will have locks fitted for the first time, some time after they were made. For instance chests of drawers originally only had a lock on the gentlemans top drawer. Ladies were not allowed locks-why should they wish to lock anything away from their husband? Later on this attitude seemed to change for some reason…