Latch

Early latches are differentiated by their cusps and grasps, whose most popular forms fall into two categories, known as the Suffolk and Norfolk types. The Suffolk latch has an upper and lower cusp joined by a handle. When the lower cusp was omitted by using the end of the grasp as a nail, driving it into the door, it was called a single cusp. Most often the Suffolk latch has matching inverted cusps, but occasionally elaborate decoration distinguishes the upper plate. The Norfolk latch has the grasp welded to the back plate, or escutcheon. This latch often had the grasp held by a pin at the top and free at the bottom—a swivel-lift knocker grasp. The Norfolk type was the most popular form of wrought latch but was outmoded when a cast door latch was patented in 1840 and manufactured in quantity. The present piece, made sometime during the eighteenth century, is an example of the Suffolk type with a dominant, pierced upper cusp and a simpler, tulip-shaped lower cusp.