Door with Lock
Arts of Africa
Decorated doors are found throughout West Africa, each area having its own distinct style. Often such doors mark the homes of important people, such as rulers or religious leaders. This door, darkened from years of use, is ornamented with a carefully balanced combination of curvilinear and angular designs. The attached lock is decorated to match the door.
MEDIUM
Wood, iron
DATES
late 19th or early 20th century
DIMENSIONS
Other: 58 x 28 1/2 x 1 1/2 in. (147.3 x 72.4 cm)
(show scale)
ACCESSION NUMBER
1994.92
CREDIT LINE
Gift of Drs. Israel and Michaela Samuelly
CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION
Door cut from buttress root of tree with attached two piece door lock. Numerous shallow intaglio designs carved into surface of door including the following: three triangles roughly three inches to a side and pointing up, arranged in band across top register. Two sets of opposing 'v' forms arranged below triangles on right and left sides of door, each forming an 'x'. Four shallow curved grooves in roughly semicircular pattern crossing near top of door between triangles. Two similar sets of grooves forming two semicircles along left side of door. Two more meet at center of door near bottom and fan out to either side of door meeting edge about twelve inches from bottom. Door lock attached to door with two iron pins penetrating door on proper right side. Lock (probably representing a turtle) consists of a block with slightly convex front surface and slightly concave side surfaces. Small knob on upper edge of lock. Cross member has three notches where pins drop to hold it in place (pins now missing). Condition: Surface of door has overall heavy smoked patina.
MUSEUM LOCATION
This item is not on view
CAPTION
Gurunsi. Door with Lock, late 19th or early 20th century. Wood, iron, Other: 58 x 28 1/2 x 1 1/2 in. (147.3 x 72.4 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Drs. Israel and Michaela Samuelly, 1994.92. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 1994.92_SL1.jpg)
IMAGE
overall, 1994.92_SL1.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph
"CUR" at the beginning of an image file name means that the image was created by a curatorial staff member. These study images may be digital point-and-shoot photographs, when we don\'t yet have high-quality studio photography, or they may be scans of older negatives, slides, or photographic prints, providing historical documentation of the object.
RIGHTS STATEMENT
Creative Commons-BY
You may download and use Brooklyn Museum images of this three-dimensional work in accordance with a
Creative Commons license. Fair use, as understood under the United States Copyright Act, may also apply.
Please include caption information from this page and credit the Brooklyn Museum. If you need a high resolution file, please fill out our online
application form (charges apply).
For further information about copyright, we recommend resources at the
United States Library of Congress,
Cornell University,
Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for U.S. Libraries, Archives, and Museums, and
Copyright Watch.
For more information about the Museum's rights project, including how rights types are assigned, please see our
blog posts on copyright.
If you have any information regarding this work and rights to it, please contact
copyright@brooklynmuseum.org.
RECORD COMPLETENESS
Not every record you will find here is complete. More information is available for some works than for others, and some entries have been updated more recently. Records are frequently reviewed and revised, and
we welcome any additional information you might have.
