English Regency Period Mahogany Writing Table, Circa 1820.

English Regency Period mahogany writing table with embossed red leather top and pierced brass gallery, two drawers with original Bramah locks, scrolling trestle supports on brass castor, English circa 1820

height: 30 in. 76 cm., width: 36.5 in. 93 cm., depth: 25 in. 63.5 cm.

Joseph Bramah started out by training as a cabinet-maker. In 1784, after attending some lectures on lock making, he patented his first lock and in the same year set up the Bramah Locks Company at 124 Piccadilly, London. Excerpted from Antique Box Guide: https://www.antiquebox.org/bramah/

In 1773 Bramah walked the 170 miles from Yorkshire to London to seek his fortune. Things certainly started to improve when in 1784 he patented his new idea for a locking mechanism. This lock was a revolution in safety measures. Until this date any lock, cheap or costly, could be ‘picked’ by anyone with only a modicum of skill.
Bramah declared that his barrel-shaped lock with its 494 million possible combinations of notches was burglarproof. He was so confident that he offered a 200-guinea prize to the first person who could ‘pick-it’. The prize went unclaimed for 67 years until an American locksmith, Alfred Charles Hobbs, finally managed to pick the lock after a month’s hard work. Nevertheless, the design was so effective that the Bramah Lock, with certain variations on its design, is still used today.
Joseph Bramah’s signature is the trademark of the Bramah Company who manufacture locks to this day. Excerpted from Bramah’s Lock by Ellen Castelow , Historic UK