Strong box

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This formidable steel strongbox is reinforced with an armature of the same material. Its elaborate locking mechanism, consisting of nine bolts and various leaf-shaped shields, offered the owner a safe storage place for his valuables. Corresponding to the eyes along the rim of the lid, the two pendant hasps in front allowed the use of additional padlocks. Nuremberg and the neighboring town of Augsburg were major metal-producing centers where armorers, locksmiths, and founders made arms and armor as well as useful wares such as locks, caskets, and strongboxes.

European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The fifty thousand objects in the Museum's comprehensive and historically important collection of European sculpture and decorative arts reflect the development of a number of art forms in Western European countries from the early fifteenth through the early twentieth century. The holdings include sculpture in many sizes and media, woodwork and furniture, ceramics and glass, metalwork and jewelry, horological and mathematical instruments, and tapestries and textiles. Ceramics made in Asia for export to European markets and sculpture and decorative arts produced in Latin America during this period are also included among these works.

Metropolitan Museum of Art