lock
notes: label: Description (Brief)
content: Lock has expanding latches held shut by tension from large single C spring. Key has three steps but all wards are missing from lock. Key operates on latches by way of two levers, one lever to each latch. No decorations except on bridgeplate over lever pivot point. Exposed works. Appears to be handmade.
label: Description
content: In August 2022, staff in the curatorial Division of Work and Industry discovered the provenance for this and other identified objects as, related to Nazi-era activities. Keywords included “distressed shipment,” “1940,” and “Germany.” Upon this discovery, staff reached out to partner organizations in Washington, D.C. and Germany to identify previous owners and better understand the nature of the transactions. Efforts to identify the original owners and contact next of kin are ongoing. These objects were shipped from Germany in March of 1940 aboard the Deutschland and were seized in New York City by U.S. Customs where they were “voluntarily abandoned” by the receiver due to insufficient documentation. They were subsequently transferred to the Smithsonian Institution in May of 1940. Curators at the time reached out to the intended recipient for further information, with no reply.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: Europe
setName: label: See more items in
content: Work and Industry: Mechanisms
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: ME.335847
label: catalog number
content: 335847
label: accession number
content: 156484
objectType: label: Object Name
content: Lock
label: Other Terms
content: Lock; Keyed
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: metal, iron (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 5 7/16 in x 7 3/4 in x 3 3/16 in; 13.81125 cm x 19.685 cm x 8.09625 cm