Handcuffs from Sir Peter Tait & Co. London

This pair of handcuffs was just purchased. They are marked Sir P. Tait & Co. London.




Peter Tait turns out to have been quite a remarkable guy. He is perhaps best know as a supplier of uniforms to the Conferderacy during the American Civil war. But he did lots of other things including a term as Mayor of the City of Limerick. There is a recently publish book about Tait by John Waite.

http://www.peter-tait.com/

Mor information can be found at the "Ask About Ireland" website.

http://www.askaboutireland.ie/show_narr ... ge_id=3399

The handcuffs have a standard appearance and are very similar to those made
by Froggatt. They have the same "rounded" base to the lock case. A side by side comparison with a marked Froggatt shows many similarities.


Tait cuff on the left, Froggatt on the right.

Tait was knighted in 1868 and his company seems to have run under his management for just a few more years. So the cuffs must have been made in the late 1860s or early 1870s.

Has anyone else seen a pair of Tait handcuffs? Can anyone tell me anthing more about them?

cheers

Joe

At first glance and the shape I thought they might be Thompson's...