Skip to Content
Today Open today 10–11 members | 11–8 public

Lock

A work made of iron with inlays of gold, silver, bronze, and copper on wood base.

Image actions

  • A work made of iron with inlays of gold, silver, bronze, and copper on wood base.

Date:

1911

Artist:

Frank L. Koralewsky
American, born Germany, 1872–1941

About this artwork

Frank L. Koralewsky served as a traditional ironworker’s apprentice in his native north-German town of Stralsund. After obtaining journeyman status, he worked in various German shops before immigrating to Boston in the mid- 1890s. By 1906 he was a member of the Boston Society of Arts and Crafts, specializing in locksmithing and hardware. This extremely intricate lock, which took seven years to complete, exemplifies the early-20th-century taste for sentimental medievalism and represents the pinnacle of the metalworking tradition at the turn of the 20th century. Exhibited at the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition, where it won a gold medal, the lock illustrates Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm’s fairy tale “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.”

Status

On View, Gallery 177

Department

Arts of the Americas

Artist

Frank L. Koralewsky

Title

Lock

Place

Roxbury (Object made in)

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

1911

Medium

Iron with inlays of gold, silver, bronze, and copper on wood base

Inscriptions

"Fkoralewsky" on iron surface; "FK" inlaid in copper

Dimensions

50.8 × 50.8 × 20.3 cm (20 × 20 × 8 in.)

Credit Line

Gift of Mr. Richard T. Crane

Reference Number

1926.521

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

Share

Sign up for our enewsletter to receive updates.

Learn more

Image actions

Share