Engraved Iron Chest Lock, Musée de Cluny, Antique Print, 1851

This is an original antique chromolithograph, printed in tones of gray and black, lettered "AA'. SERRURE de Coffre en fer gravé, (XVIe SIÈCLE.) Musée de Cluny, No 1605. B. Platine d'une Serrure (XVIe SIÈCLE.) grandeur naturelle, tirée de la collection de Mr Sauvageot, à Paris." Three pieces stand side by side. At the left, lettered A, is the oval plate of a chest lock, engraved with interlaced strapwork, birds and foliage around a small mask above the keyhole, with fleur de lis lugs at its four points. In the center, lettered A', is the hasp of the same lock, its broad head cut into scrolled arms and engraved with a standing figure above a long shaft. At the right, lettered B, is a pierced lock plate in which two winged monsters stand back to back on either side of the keyhole, their heads turned outward, within scrolling foliage.

The running head reads "LE MOYEN-AGE ET LA RENAISSANCE." and "FERRONNERIE PL. VIII." (ironwork, plate 8). The credits are "H. Soltau del." at the lower left and "Kellerhoven lith." at the lower right, with "F. Séré direxit" at the foot; no printer is named. In English the caption reads: AA'. Lock of a chest in engraved iron (sixteenth century), Musée de Cluny, No. 1605. B. Plate of a lock (sixteenth century), actual size, from the collection of Mr. Sauvageot, Paris.

Paul Lacroix, known also by his pen name the Bibliophile Jacob, edited Le Moyen Âge et la Renaissance with Ferdinand Séré as director of the plates. The five volumes appeared in Paris between 1848 and 1851 and cover the customs, crafts, sciences and arts of medieval and Renaissance Europe, each chapter illustrated after objects then held in public and private collections. The present plate comes from the fourth volume of 1851.

The plate can be framed on its own or hung in a small group with other plates from the work.

This is an original antique print, not a modern reproduction. This item is sold unframed.