To Please a Lady

Catherine the Great, Czarina of Russia from 1762 to 1796, had one of the most notable lock collections of her time. She admired the fine workmanship of artisans who designed ornamental faceplates for locks and created padlocks in fanciful forms to please a lady or a favored child. It is said that a famous Russian locksmith gained his freedom from banishment to Siberia by making a chain for Catherine. She was so impressed with his craftsmanship that she pardoned him. As the story goes, this incident is credited with the origin of a saying that "it takes 89 keys to unlock a prison."