Unlacquered brass octagonal centre door knob on a navy gloss Georgian front door, with a warm natural patina in the recesses
Whole-home inspiration · Living finish

Unlacquered brass: the finish that grows with the house

Bare brass with no protective coating, so it mellows to a soft gold-brown and stays bright wherever hands touch it.

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The look
Fittings
Unlacquered brass
Front door · pick one
Deep navyDark green
Inside
Chalky off-whitePale stone
Outside
White doorcaseStock brickBlack railings

Deep navy or dark green gloss on the front door, chalky off-whites inside, and bare brass that will slowly take on the character of the house.

Up close
Georgian brick townhouse with stone steps, black railings and a dark green gloss front door under a fanlight, with an unlacquered brass knocker, centre knob and letter plate Three unlacquered brass octagonal centre knobs on a navy board showing how the finish ages: bright when new, mellow after six months and a deep warm patina after two years Unlacquered brass profile doctor knocker on a navy door and stepped bell push on a white doorcase, polished bright where hands touch and mellowed elsewhere Unlacquered brass mushroom mortice knob on a chalky off-white six-panel door in a Georgian drawing room Unlacquered brass reeded mortice knob on a painted panelled study door, with darker grooves and bright worn edges, bookshelves beyond Inside of an off-white Georgian front door with an unlacquered brass letter tidy above a black and white chequered stone hall floor
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Bare brass for the whole door

Navy gloss Georgian six-panel front door with an unlacquered brass doctor knocker, octagonal centre knob, letter plate, cylinder pull and stepped bell push 1 2 3 4 5
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Good to know

Why choose a finish that changes

EraGeorgian, Regency and Victorian
Trend statusRising: designers favour honest, ageing metals
Inspired byHand-burnished brass of period houses
SuitsTownhouses, listed buildings and cottages

How period brass looked

Before clear lacquers were widely used, door brass was simply polished by the household. It was never uniformly bright: knobs and knockers gleamed where they were handled, while the edges and recesses settled into a warm, darker tone. Unlacquered brass recreates exactly that look.

What to expect

Fresh out of the box it is bright yellow gold. Within a few months outdoors it mellows and the shine softens; over a year or two it develops a deep brown-gold patina, while the parts you touch every day stay burnished. Inside the house the change is slower and gentler.

You stay in control

Because there is no coating to wear through, nothing ever peels or flakes. Leave it to age, wax it to slow the process, or polish it back to bright whenever you like, as often or as rarely as suits you.

Getting it right

Polish, or don't

A good brass polish and a soft cloth restore the shine in minutes. Many owners polish only the knob and knocker, and let the plates age around them.

Slow it down

A thin coat of microcrystalline wax after polishing keeps the brightness longer, which is useful on a front door that faces the weather.

House numbers

There are no unlacquered numerals in the range. Lacquered polished brass numbers stay bright, so they work best set slightly apart from the knocker and knob.

Mix with care

Inside, use unlacquered knobs throughout a floor rather than mixing with lacquered brass; the two finishes drift apart in colour over time.