Egyptian Pharaoh Copper Door Knocker. A regal face to greet visitors to your home. 

Condition: Will make noise. 

Size: 10 1/4 x 5 7/8 in. 

#4363 . 

A door knocker is an item of door furniture that allows people outside a house or other dwelling or building to alert those inside to their presence. They have likely existed in the most rudimentary forms since the beginning of civilization, but became more common during Mesopotamian times and first rose to prominence during the heyday of Ancient Greece. The door knocker traditionally has a part fixed to the door, and another part (usually metal) which is attached to the first piece by a hinge, allowing it to be lifted and used to strike a plate fitted to the door, or the door itself, making a noise. During the Renaissance door knockers became more and more ornate, but still may be no more than a simple fitting with a metal bob, or ring. The German professor Franz Sales Meyer distinguished three specific kinds of door knocker: the simple “ring,” the more complex “hammer,” and the most elaborate category which could take the shape of an animal or another figure and may even incorporate other moving parts to generate sound. An explosion in demand for antique door knockers in the early 20th Century in the United States caused forged versions to emerge, and today they are ubiquitous on most doors due to the swelling global middle class, with older versions collected for their history and style.

Will make noise.