Antique Chinese Cylinder Padlock

Hello Everyone!

I recently acquired an old (hopefully!) Chinese cylinder padlock - as per the attached pics, and would be very grateful if any of the experts amongst you could help with the following questions . -

a) Any idea as to how old this padlock might be ? I'm no expert, although I would personally have guessed at around end C19th (???).

b) How scarce are such padlocks as these ?


and

c) Are such padlocks as these collected, and how much might one have to pay in, say, an antique shop for such an item ?

Much obliged for you help.

Best Regards,

Peter

 

Welcome back Stiftgasse.
The problem with Chinese locks is that they are still being mass produced today. And given an 'antique' finish.
The mechanism looks quite modern, do the cylinders turn, or is there a key?

 

we just saw another of these with a strange key...

a furniture lock....

 

I'll say that yours doesn't look like a new import.....

 

Yes, furniture, boxes, etc.
I think OP's could have that 'tooth' key too, but we are looking at the side of it. The photos are pretty dark too.

I can't imagine the password system with turning cylinders is very old.

 

it looks like the flowers cap both ends......but ya......dark and blurry pics make it hard on us to be ....at our best !!!

 

Hello Folks,

Many thanks for taking the time to read my post and for the various replies. I'm downloading some better pics (with flash) which might be of more use in your deliberations.
In the meantime, I have found a (US?) website called gatreasures.com, which has a section on Chinese padlocks and show samples of similar antique chinese cylinder locks on display at the Hans Schell Lock Museum in Graz, Austria.
Apologies, again, for the substandard pics !

Best Regards,
Peter

 

Thanks, Peter, that looks so much better. Yes, that looks like genuine aging and wear, nice. I will check out the website.

 

Ahhhhhhhhhh Peter !!!
Now we're cooking with gas !!!
I think I can say with high confidence that this is not a new import...
but it is beyond my purview to offer anything more substantial at this point.

I hope the museum site can give you an idea of it's age.
As for scarce.....they made lots of em....
As for value....you'll have to find similar items sold in the last few years.....
or...price it as you see fit ,to be comfortable with !

 

Many, many thanks !!! Good news !

 

They still make bar-locks like this. My cousin's got two of them on her front door. I mean, they're cool, but the vast majority are reproductions. That doesn't mean you can't use them - they're great for what they have to do - but they're not antiques.