Holt Antiques at Walsingham Mill
A 17th Century Antique Wrought Iron Alms Box for Wall Mounting, Probably German or Flemish
A 17th Century Antique Wrought Iron Alms Box for Wall Mounting, Probably German or Flemish
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A rare and imposing 17th-century wrought iron alms box, of riveted sheet construction with integral wall-mounting plate, probably German or Flemish, and a survivor of the great age of the fixed church poor box.
The box is entirely hand-wrought, its sheets joined with dome-headed rivets, beneath a hinged lid fitted with a raised coin-slot plate — the raised guard a deliberate defence against the contents being fished back out. A decorative vandyked fringe runs beneath the lid rim on all sides. The long iron hasp falls to a shield-shaped keeper plate on the front elevation, the padlock now absent, and the box stands on splayed feet dressed from the corner sheets.
Most telling of all is the integral back plate, pierced with three square apertures: this box was made to be spiked or bolted immovably to the wall, pillar, or screen of a church, where it could receive the offerings of the faithful in full public view while remaining secure against all comers. Fixed iron boxes of this kind were the strongrooms of parish charity, their contents released only under lock and key.
The surface is entirely untouched: hammer-dressed iron with a deep, dry patina running from near-black through rich russet oxidation, every rivet and forge mark legible. A powerful object with tremendous wall presence, as suited to a collector of early metalwork as to an interior in want of genuine gravity.
Padlock absent, as noted; otherwise in fine and structurally sound original condition.
Provenance: Flemish/German. 17th-century.
Material: Iron.
Condition: Please refer to the description and images.
Dimensions: 11⅝ in (29.5 cm) high, 10¼ in (26 cm) wide including the wall plate, 6¾ in (17 cm) deep
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