Need to identify 2 objects: one works "like" a lock, the other looks LIKE a door knocker.... Answered

www.imaginestics.com

The second piece is "so" light weight, I at first thought it was wood, But it is a painted metal....just quite feather weight :-) BTW, that "door knocker" appearing bit is small enough to nearly hide in the palm of my hand without folding it over. It is setting in a 9 inch paper plate back, with room to spare on both edges. Why the part the looks like the knocker part, would have a ringed (hole) end on it is perplexing if that is indeed a knocker.

A ring style knocker is definitely more common nowadays, but they did have a "bob style" years ago; which makes me think what you have is quite old.

Here's a few examples of other bob style knockers. I would definitely take yours to an antiques dealer to find out for sure. A lot of these things were made as one-off's so you might not find as easy of a match as with the Chinese Trunk Lock.

The (smaller) hole, as it were, appears to have a purpose: i.e. it's there to hold something. That may just be my perception, but it bothers me that the entire piece is SO very lightweight; it couldn't, if made to hang something on, be made to hold any real weight. Other then the "larger hole" you can see in the picture, there is no other obvious way to attach it TO something (the small hole would serve to "turn the piece sideways, if used to attach it to a flat surface like a door). It is probably the picture that is giving a false impression of what it looks like: it has a "flat black" painted appearance to it. Where I have a note on the picture saying the "hole in the end" makes a "small loop"; that may be misleading too. The "hole" appears to be "squared off", as if to attach it to something or to attach (hang) something from it; in a flush manner; again, that may just be my perception.

I get what you're saying. Since both items were bought off ebay in a group of misc items, I wonder if this isn't another Chinese item of some kind. Maybe its just an ornamental object, like art, versus having a specific purpose. It's hard to say for sure. Do you have a China Town neighborhood where you live? Maybe its worth asking around if they've ever seen anything like that before (you can always say you got it with a Chinese Trunk Lock). They might be able to figure it out right away or give you some idea on what to search.

The fellow travelled so it COULD from anywhere....one more bit of info.....I looked at it MUCH closer....the black has shades of green which gives me the idea it MAY have some copper in it.

I looked around some more, and saw some promising similarities to antique hinges & latches; whether for a door, a cupboard or even a trunk, I think that's the key in identifying this object. I'm not sure how it would have been attached (per your comments), but there are some ornate pieces that look like this. Maybe email the "American Pickers" show from the History Channel, and ask if they have some idea what it is. It couldn't hurt. The worst they'd do is ignore you or say they don't know, BUT, if they know what it is and they want it, they may offer you some $$$.

I am starting to think it attaches at the smaller (not pictured) loop, and that it is a "pull" of some sort.

If there's another piece, it may be a fancy old latch for a trunk or box...

This might be an overly-obvious question, but did you email the seller and ask what this is? If they don't know, I'm sure they can at least tell you what part of the world it came from.

My wife got it in her box lot, but I am not so sure she is THAT interested in knowing what it is....I will inquire though, just in case she wants to ask him.

Here is what the "end" with the small hole looks like >

I am at a loss as to "how to search on Google" for something like this. So far, will all the different suggestion from everyone, I've still got pretty much "nothin" :-)

Tried reverse image search?

Since I don't see that in Google's line up of "tasks that can be performed" (not even the fully extended list), I assume you mean a program used after downloading? One like TinEye?

No, Google Images has the same functionality as TinEye (well, I'm sure people would debate all day as to which is better, of course). Go to Google Image Search and you can upload a photo as your search.

Ok, I found it and tried it.....a cat? really? a bow tie, a nude sculpture from behind and a dresser drawer? What needs to happen is they need MORE images in their index (they don't search the entire WEB for these matches, btw)

It's not as simple as "index more images," though. (For one thing, you may have noticed that awhile back they changed the way they link to images because they were getting into legal issues directly linking.) I agree that reverse image search is often hit and miss, but it's a neonate technology which has problems that are compounded by operating in an area where the copyrights are a huge pain. And on top of it all you threw a (apparently rare) object at it which it may simply not have any more pictures out there. :D

Yes, but according to the folks at TinEye, when given more access to more images to index, they will have a greater number of "choices" to offer.

I had tried both Tineye and Google, and although Google found some "visually similar images"... they weren't anything close to this item. (i.e. one image was a black 'bow tie'). ? o_0 ?

LOL

I tried using TinEye, and got:  0 Results

Searched over 2.0907 billion images.

Tried it with google images?

when I click on Images...it asks for a description, what am I missing ?

the first 5 pictures are of the same thing, the last picture is the second item....

I meant, the second picture on the site I linked to :)

http://urbanite-diary.blogspot.com/2009/02/shanghai-old-street.html

OH ok, yes, I found thank you !

images.google for "chinese lock" and you'll find similar things.

Apparently, from what my wife says, the fellow she bought this box lot off of from eBay, travels quite a bit (small jacket patches from Italy, India, etc were included).

Nice find!

Thanks, and my wife got them in an eBay lot package of misc items....

Did she accidentally bid on this instead of the "water torture kit"?

She doesn't have THAT much patience LOL

Thanks: & added a note to the picture discribing the hole

So, now I'm thinking something to do with anchoring boats...

+1 on the second image.
My first thought was that the crossbar may be there to stop it pulling back through a port leaving whatever attaches to the other end outside.
Is there any chance of a picture from the side?

It's a Chinese Trunk Lock. (I posted an image... they're identical).

colorex mentions "old chinese locks" and when I image googled that I got a lot of stuff like it, lots of them fancy like this one: