Iron mortsafe base and lid, unsigned, British, 1801-1822
This mortsafe is made of iron and is large enough to contain a coffin. Mortsafes were sometimes used to protect coffins and stop people stealing the corpses to sell to anatomists, a crime that was taking place in early-nineteenth century Britain when legally available bodies for dissection were in short supply. The coffin would be removed from the safe once the body had decomposed beyond the point of usefulness for dissection.