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Padlock

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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)

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Ethnologisches Museum Show original at data provider

Cataloguing data

Object type
Padlock
Dimensions
Height: 10,3 cm
Depth: 3,8 cm
Width: 5,3 cm
Material/Technique
Brass, copper alloy
Current location
Ethnologisches Museum, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin
Inventory number
III C 23973

Provenance and sources

  • Production
    where
    Benin [kingdom]
  • Production
    when
    18th century - 19th century.
    where
    Nigeria
    Benin
  • Collecting
    who
    William John Ansorge (1850 - 1913-10-31) - Collectors
  • Change of legal title:
    Acquisition
    Description
    Commissioned from the Igun Eronmwon brass foundry guild in the Kingdom of Benin in the 18th or 19th century; probably looted in connection with the British conquest of Benin, 1897; in unknown ownership after Feb. 1897; acquired in a village near Benin City by W.J. Ansorge before 1905; auctioned by J.C. Stevens, 1909.
  • Assignment to a curated holding:
    Africa

Information about the record

Legal status metadata
CC BY-SA 4.0 DEED
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