Antique A.M. Nachf 19th century cast iron w/lock what is it?
Hello,
I was wondering if any experts could help me figure out exactly this is/was used for. I bought a month or so ago at a garage sale from a woman who said her mother had this. I don't have the key for it, unfortunately. After searching Google for more information I found out it was a cast made by Albert Anton Mewes in an iron foundry located at Berlin. He died in 1866 and his family or colleagues continued the foundry in 1867. "Nachf" stands for Nachfolger.
He started in 1842 in the Markgrafenstrasse 42 (strasse is street)
since 1850 in the Moabit
since 1850 in the Turmstrasse 17-18
since 1853 Chausseestrasse 86a
since 1866 his widow continued the foundry and as mentioned
since 1867 his relatives continued the foundry.
They made a lot of fine castings as you can see at your bowl. The number 7529 is the modell# from the catalogue.
In Berlin also there was the foundry of the goldsmith Devaranne who later switched to casing in iron.
I've seen other cast iron items which said they were signed with the A.M. Nachf and cast numbers a little less than this one and they stated were circa 1860s - 1870's. Some auctions I found actually had the spelling incorrectly stated for "Nachf" and think it is "Nacht". Any ideas what this could have been for? Any ideas or opinions would be appreciated, thanks.
pictures are located here: Flickr: bhcfan's Photostream
