Priceless exhibit in rare outing at Bantock House Museum
It was the key to success for a Wolverhampton craftsman in the Great Exhibition that still astounds onlookers more than 160 years later.
And it has just gone on show for one day only at the Bantock House Museum in the city.
The priceless exhibit consists of 39 different locks, each of which can be opened or closed individually with its own key or all together with a single lever arm.
The ingenious mechanical display has over 300 parts and is the handiwork of Wolverhampton lock maker Charles Aubin.
The unique contraption for the Great Exhibition of 1851 and has a tiered construction resembling a wedding cake and starred at Great Exhibition of 1851.
Called the Aubin Lock Trophy, it went on show Tuesday 4th June to coincide with Bantock's exhibition charting the history of the local lock industry and called All Locked Up.
Museum curator Helen Statham said: "It was an absolute delight to have the Trophy for the day. I have known about its existence for years, researched it and seen pictures of it but I was still amazed to see it in real life. Visitors to the museum could not believe their eyes and took lots of photographs.
"It looks like a wedding cake and has rightly been described as ingenious. Charles Aubin conceived the idea several years before the Great Exhibition where it was greeted with loud applause by the audience. It got a great reception from our visitors as well. They could not believe their eyes and took lots of photographs."
There was also a special talk by Susannah Stapleton, Tales from the House of Chubb, 1810-1850, detailing the early days of the Chubb lock company and the struggles with the business and family.
The trophy was loaned to the museum by Chubbsafes, part of the Gunnebo security group, and is normally kept under lock and key by them.
