Lock and Key thumbnail 1
Lock and Key thumbnail 2
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Image of Gallery in South Kensington
On display at V&A South Kensington
Metalware, Room 116, The Belinda Gentle Gallery

Lock and Key

1680-1700 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

The intricate lock has four turning bolts that can be set to various combinations. For added security, a sliding panel reveals two dials to record every turn of the lock.

This type of lock is a rim lock, with its mechanism entirely enclosed in a case to be mounted on a door. Unlike later mortise locks that were built into doors and might match the overall decorative scheme of a room, rim locks could be removed when the owner moved house, to be fixed to a door in the new house.

Locks and keys were symbols of ownership and authority. Lockplates and key escutcheons, made of highly reflective materials, provided the finishing touches to decorative schemes.

English locksmiths were based mainly in London and the Midlands and were renowned for their ingenuity. Wolverhampton produced, according to one writer in 1686, locks ‘curiously polisht and the keys so finely wrought, that ‘tis reasonable to think they were never exceeded’. The diarist John Evelyn recorded in 1654 that a lock with ‘rare contrivances’ could be viewed as a masterpiece, ‘esteem’d a curiositie even among foraine princes’.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Parts
This object consists of 2 parts.

  • Lock
  • Key
Materials and techniques
Steel, brass, forged and chiselled, blued
Brief description
Rim lock of forged steel in pierced brass case with separate hasp, with sliding panel revealing two dials to record the action of the lock, English, ca. 1680, probably by John Wilkes of Birmingham
Physical description
Lock with brass scroll openwork in steel and brass frame. It has 4 knobs for turning the bolts and a projecting box with a sliding panel enclosing two dials for recording the action of the lock. The hasp is also brass and the steel body is blued. The works of the lock are steel and the back of the lock is decorated with engraving. The brass openwork consists of twirling tendrils ending in flowers and dogs' heads.
Dimensions
  • Height: 12.5cm
  • Depth: 5.5cm
  • Length: 22.8cm
  • Dial plate width: 7.7cm
Style
Gallery label
LOCK Cast brass, with applied steel, pierced England; about 1680 The diarist John Evelyn recorded in 1654 that a lock with 'rare contrivances' could be viewed as a masterpiece, 'esteem'd a curiositie even among foraine princes'. This example has open scrollwork in brass contrasting with a 'blued' steel base. The lock has four turning bolts. For added security, a sliding panel reveals two dials to record every turn of the lock. Museum no. 1394&A-1888(November 2004)
Object history
This lock has open scrollwork in brass contrasting with a ‘blued’ steel base. The lock has four turning bolts. For added security, a sliding panel reveals two dials to record every turn of the lock.

This type of lock is a rim lock, with its mechanism entirely enclosed in a case to be mounted on a door. Unlike later mortise locks that were built into doors and might match the overall decorative scheme of a room, rim locks could be removed when the owner moved house, to be fixed to a door in the new house. The bold proportions and twirling ornament are unmistakeably Baroque and would complement contemporary decoration in the house without matching exactly. On this example, even the inner steel workings are finely engraved.

The Museum acquired the lock for £15.15 from the Londesborough Sale in 1888.

Historical significance: This is one of the finest examples of a rim lock in the Museum's collection.
Historical context
Locks and keys were symbols of ownership and authority. Lockplates and key escutcheons, made of highly reflective materials, provided the finishing touches to decorative schemes.

English locksmiths were based mainly in London and the Midlands and were renowned for their ingenuity. Wolverhampton produced, according to one writer in 1686, locks ‘curiously polisht and the keys so finely wrought, that ‘tis reasonable to think they were never exceeded’.

The complicated mechanisms of locks made rooms secure while their intricate patterns in steel and brass turned their locks into works of art. The diarist John Evelyn recorded in 1654 that a lock with ‘rare contrivances’ could be viewed as a masterpiece, ‘esteem’d a curiositie even among foraine princes’.
Production
Based on similarities with signed examples
Subjects depicted
Association
Summary
The intricate lock has four turning bolts that can be set to various combinations. For added security, a sliding panel reveals two dials to record every turn of the lock.

This type of lock is a rim lock, with its mechanism entirely enclosed in a case to be mounted on a door. Unlike later mortise locks that were built into doors and might match the overall decorative scheme of a room, rim locks could be removed when the owner moved house, to be fixed to a door in the new house.

Locks and keys were symbols of ownership and authority. Lockplates and key escutcheons, made of highly reflective materials, provided the finishing touches to decorative schemes.

English locksmiths were based mainly in London and the Midlands and were renowned for their ingenuity. Wolverhampton produced, according to one writer in 1686, locks ‘curiously polisht and the keys so finely wrought, that ‘tis reasonable to think they were never exceeded’. The diarist John Evelyn recorded in 1654 that a lock with ‘rare contrivances’ could be viewed as a masterpiece, ‘esteem’d a curiositie even among foraine princes’.
Associated object
Bibliographic reference
Patterson, Angus, ed., "The Belinda Gentle Metalware Gallery at the V&A", Journal of the Antique Metalware Society, Volume 13, June 2005, p. 45, Fig. 1
Collection
Accession number
1394-1888

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Record createdJune 24, 2009
Record URL
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