This albumen print from a glass negative is a type of photograph that was made in the mid decades of the nineteenth century. In this particular photograph, the thinness of paper and dullness of albumen indicate an early example of that photographic process dating from the 1850s to the 1860s. It shows door knockers made in the Victorian metalworker Francis Skidmore's (1817-1896) firm. The door knockers may have been made at his premises in West Orchard, where his firm was in 1853, or Alma Street, Coventry from 1859. There are similar printed designs for such fittings in a pattern book lettered 'Skidmore's Art Manufactures Co. Book of Designs' in Coventry Public Library. Skidmore's firm had this title from 1865.

The photograph is thus a record of the work done and it comes from an archive of designs and photographs from Skidmore's firm. In addition, he produced church plate, light fittings, and furniture but was best known for his innovative architectural ironwork of which this roof crest is an example.