Door knocker

Description

The golden face of Bacchus, a mythological deity crowned with leaves and grapes to symbolize wine and revelry, invites one to seek admittance to a closed door by lifting the shell and garland handle. This door knocker is a Connecticut-made version of a design first produced in England, but with a novel patented method of manufacture devised by Increase Wilson. Wilson experimented with casting techniques to incorporate the ornamental brass surface with a base metal and cast iron backing in the mold, reducing the hand work of adding a backplate. This example was analyzed in the conservation laboratory and found to have possibly been plated with cadmium and nickel in the early 20th century.