Padlock from the palace of the King of BeninThe ornate bronze keys were used to lock the palace rooms in which valuable objects such as ivory carvings, staffs and bronze objects or the king's insignia were kept. To open the large wooden doors, the key was used to lift a hook out of its latch at the back of the door, thus releasing the bolt. The key hooks work in a similar way to the keys in the Benin exhibition catalogue (2008)