Padlock and Key in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, April 2010

Padlock and Key
Steel, partly gilt, brass
Andre Omereler
South German, dated 1531

Accession # 57.137.10a-e

This lock is a masterpiece, or test piece, which the maker submitted when applying for membership in a locksmiths' guild. The keyhole was deliberately concealed and can be used only after releasing a movable panel on the back of the lock by means of a hidden mechanism. Various other movable panels, revolving shields, etched with coats of arms, and circular apertures in the lock are meant to confound the effects of a picklock.

Text from the Metropolitan Museum of Art label.