Very old Chinese padlock

Scott Klemm

Recently I went to the Bowers Museum in Santa Ana, California to see the Terra Cotta Warriors exhibit. While there I saw this beautiful silver padlock dating from the early 8th century A.D. (Tang Dynasty). Fortunately photography was allowed as long as flash was not used. Here’s my photo. I wish the key had not been inserted into the lock so we could see the end part, and get a better idea of how the spreading springs were arranged.
Scott

Doug MacQueen

Scott, I assume this display was only a part of the entire collection. How cool either way. You should have thrown your weight around a little to get more pics of the padlock, being an expert on locks of antiquity. I imagine the lock was more ceremonial than functional being made of silver. Of course, then again given the strict codes in China at the time, strength in security was hardly dependent on materials alone. Doug

Scott Klemm

The padlock was functional. It apparently belonged to royalty. It probably secured a small box or casket like the golden one pictured below. This box was one of several nesting boxes within a larger iron box. It still has the lock although its very rusty. I’m not how sure how they got into the box since the lock is obviously too corroded. The final box was made of jade and held the finger bone of Buddha. (The bone was not displayed.)
All these artifacts are on temporary loan from the People’s Republic of China. I don’t think they would even let me breathe on it, more less touch it.
Scott