What's the point of selling bronze locks?

In recent years, the collection of bronze locks has gradually become the new favorite of the collection and auction market. The old copper lock has unique technology and unique shape, which is suitable for playing, and condenses the technical history of China copper metallurgical industry. Another point is that the practicality of bronze lock makes it have a certain sense of existence. The collection is simple to get started, but it is not easy to play fine. An Bingwu, a famous collector of bronze locks in Jincheng, also studied bronze locks.

An Bingwu said that there were metal locks since the Han Dynasty, iron locks were mostly used in the Tang and Song Dynasties, and copper locks became the mainstream in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. The use of copper locks is exquisite, and this lock emphasizes practicality. The pattern carving of the lock is not complicated, but it is strong and durable. There are also some meaningful locks, such as Flo Xi Shou locks for children, Zodiac locks for girls' dowry, cosmetic boxes, etc. This lock is complicated in carving, more artistic than practical, and more collectible. In addition, because the copper lock is easy to form and the later hand-made process is becoming more and more mature, the pattern of the lock is more beautiful and complex, and the shape is more unique. Many patterns also recorded the local customs at that time, which is very worth collecting.

In An Bingwu's collection, there are many bronze locks engraved with lettering and auspicious words, and the fonts are neat. For example, the bronze locks in the late Qing Dynasty are usually engraved with auspicious words such as "Five sons join the company", "Long life and wealth" and "promotion and wealth". Later, bronze locks were endowed with deeper ideological connotations. In An Bingwu's collection, there is a golden bell lock. This lock is shaped like a clock. The keyhole is located in the middle of the lock body. There is a waterproof cover above the keyhole. The word "golden bell" is written on the lid, and the four characters "support domestic products" are engraved on the lock body. Through this sentence, we can see the background of that era: the movement of domestic products, which rose in the 1920s and 1930s, advocated domestic products, and we often saw slogans and titles such as "Advocating domestic products and standing on the same front", "China is weak, foreign goods are rampant, interests are rampant, people are over 100 million years old, try to save, advocate domestic products, enrich the people and strengthen the country" and "China people use domestic products". The slogan of supporting domestic products is written on the lock, which also makes such patriotic movement more deeply rooted in the hearts of the people.

An Bingwu, who has a deep study of ancient locks, explained that locks and keys symbolized wealth and power in ancient times. Now we can also see through some film and television works that the most obvious sign of a housekeeper in a big house is to carry a bunch of keys with him. Of course, the workmanship and carving of these small horizontal copper locks can also be clearly seen that the people who used them in the old days were either rich or expensive. Today, many people also like to buy an antique bronze lock when they are doing happy events, and skillfully use the "concentric lock" to pin the eternal unity of a couple, but this has nothing to do with wealth and power. With the changes of the times, the ancient locks that have amazed the world for thousands of years and condensed the hard work and wisdom of the working people gradually withdrew from the historical stage and were replaced by simpler and more practical welded hook locks, blade locks and marble locks. An Bingwu admits that the collection value of ancient locks lies not only in its long history and rich historical and cultural background, but also in its rich information on the development of the hardware industry at that time, which is why he collects ancient locks.

An Bingwu said: "I studied locks while collecting them, and looked through that history with locks as clues, which added a lot of fun to my later life."