door latch

Door latch comprising two pieces of wood, one fitting into a slot in the other. This latter piece is incomplete, but probably at one time would have had a chamber on one side of the slot, with two or three holes with metal pegs in them. These pegs would have engaged into holes in the other piece of wood, so securing it and the door to which it would have been attached. The catch would have been released by the insertion of a 'key', which pushed the metal pegs back into their 'home' holes. (See a similar device from Egypt: 6.12.65/296.)

object
MUSEUM NUMBER
5.1.67/8i
PLACE
COLLECTION
MEASUREMENTS
overall: 345 mm x 76 mm x 83 mm
MATERIAL/TECHNIQUE
wood; iron
CATEGORY
Anthropology: Ethnography
LOCATION
World Gallery > Introduction > Threshold - left
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Collection Information

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