Wide Availability of Antique Door Handles

The range of antique door handles available to buy today is excellent and represents a good market interpretation of what was available many years ago. The first documentary evidence of the invention of the door handle comes from the USA, where a gentleman with the excellent name of Osbourn Dorsey established the first patent in the year 1878. However, this is not the real story, as doorknobs and door handles were often illustrated in catalogs and pictures at least as far back as the 18th century and could well be well before this date as the rulers and highest levels of people running the country were extremely wealthy and would have wanted to protect their wealth and property from the very poor. elements of the town.

The original black antique stoves used to be made of cast iron and beaten into final shape by the blacksmith using a fire, anvil and hammer. Gradually these were replaced by steel models and eventually aluminum and brass alloys and now coated plastics. The shapes of the original black antique handles and door furniture varied depending on the manufacturer and the amount of decoration that was required.

Some door handles and plaques could be huge and were designed solely to indicate the wealth of the property in question. The systems were of the older latch type and were eventually superseded by the newer twist latch systems.

Today’s designs are generally more modest with a well balanced combination between door handle and door plate, they are designed to fit most door opening and closing systems that can be found on the market today. The black cast iron look can be steel, alloy, or even a plastic trim fabrication and all look great if the original trim has been designed and manufactured to accurately represent vintage models from years gone by. It is often the worn look that determines a good quality reproduction, so it pays to get a good supplier.

Plastic-based handles look great but don’t feel right, but they can be great in all the right places. Exterior shapes are numerous, particularly in the shape of the door plate when they range from oblong to oblong with graceful curves at the corners. There is also a trend now to develop a range of modern antiques where the look is inherently antique but the shapes are quite modern and would not have been found in antiquity.