Doorknocker

Unknown

late 15th–early 16th century · Bronze, iron pin · European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

A knocker inserted through the wood of a door, when struck against a metal plate that was likewise affixed to the door, allowed visitors to announce their presence to those within. This bronze knocker was cast in the form of a ring, around which was forged the horizontal iron strap that held it in place; the narrow slot at the end of the strap helped secure it on the other side of the door with an iron wedge. The weight and thickness imply a door of considerable stoutness. The object shows plenty of age and use, evincing a rich natural patina, nicks, and a well-rubbed, slightly flattened area behind the lower back of the knocker, where it struck the now-missing plate. The ringlike composition incorporates acanthus and sea creatures somewhat resembling dolphins, the mouths of which form a bezel of sorts for the diamond in which it terminates. The most celebrated imagery to include a diamond belonged to the Medici family in Florence, but it lacked acanthus and dolphinlike sea life.[1] The ring could signify any marital alliance. The handsome forms and facture of this unstudied object do not, for that matter, appear particularly Florentine. -JDD Footnotes (For key to shortened references see bibliography in Allen, Italian Renaissance and Baroque Bronzes in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. NY: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2022.) 1. No such combinations appear in Langedijk 1981–87.

Artist

Unknown

Date

late 15th–early 16th century

Medium

Bronze, iron pin

Culture

Central Italian

Department

European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

Credit line

Rogers Fund, 1927