OpenGlyph — Catalogue of the American Public DomainJurisdiction: United StatesRev. 2026.08
Images / art

Two archives, queried live.

Every record below comes from The Met or Smithsonian Open Access and was filtered on that archive’s own rights field before it reached this page. 24 shown for “Key Handle in the Form of a Horse’s Head” — 64 records examined, 15 dropped by the rights gate.

Archives queried 2026-09-03 10:26 UTC · fetched live for this request

Object
Public domainThe Met’s isPublicDomain field is true for this object.
CC0 (public-domain equivalent)Smithsonian’s metadata_usage.access reads CC0 — a waiver, not an expired term.
Not shownAnything failing its archive’s rights field is dropped server-side and never appears here.
Key Handle in the Form of a Horse’s Head

Key Handle in the Form of a Horse’s Head

Artist not stated in the record · 2nd–3rd century

Public domainThe Met
Ornament Designs for Escutcheon and Key, by Hugues Brisville, French, active ca. 1663

Ornament Designs for Escutcheon and Key

Hugues Brisville, French, active ca. 1663 · 1662

CC0 (public-domain equivalent)Smithsonian
Tankard engraved with scenes of the Great Plague and the Great Fire of London, by I N

Tankard engraved with scenes of the Great Plague and the Great Fire of London

I N · 1675/76

Public domainThe Met
Plate 5, from Diverses pièces de serruriers (Various Designs for Locksmiths), by Hugues Brisville, French, active ca. 1663

Plate 5, from Diverses pièces de serruriers (Various Designs for Locksmiths)

Hugues Brisville, French, active ca. 1663 · after 1662

CC0 (public-domain equivalent)Smithsonian
Bronze mirror with a support in the form of a draped woman

Bronze mirror with a support in the form of a draped woman

Artist not stated in the record · mid-5th century BCE

Public domainThe Met
Designs for Two Ewers and a Swing-Handle Bowl, by Luzio Romano, Italian, active 1528 – 1575

Designs for Two Ewers and a Swing-Handle Bowl

Luzio Romano, Italian, active 1528 – 1575 · mid- 16th century

CC0 (public-domain equivalent)Smithsonian
David and Goliath, by Francesco Fanelli

David and Goliath

Francesco Fanelli · 17th century cast

Public domainThe Met
Japonesque Style Pattern Number 5 Frunit Knife, by Gorham Manufacturing Company, Providence, Rhode Island, USA, founded 1818

Japonesque Style Pattern Number 5 Frunit Knife

Gorham Manufacturing Company, Providence, Rhode Island, USA, founded 1818 · ca. 1880

CC0 (public-domain equivalent)Smithsonian
Andiron with figure of Juno (chenet) (one of a pair), by Alessandro Algardi

Andiron with figure of Juno (chenet) (one of a pair)

Alessandro Algardi · late 17th century

Public domainThe Met
Design for a Tureen, by Joseph Anton Seethaler II, German, 1799–1868

Design for a Tureen

Joseph Anton Seethaler II, German, 1799–1868 · 1825-1835

CC0 (public-domain equivalent)Smithsonian
The Harvesters, by Pieter Bruegel the Elder

The Harvesters

Pieter Bruegel the Elder · 1565

Public domainThe Met
Staircase Balustrade Design, by Laurent Desboeufs de Saint-Laurent, French, active 1763 – 1776

Staircase Balustrade Design

Laurent Desboeufs de Saint-Laurent, French, active 1763 – 1776 · 1772–77

CC0 (public-domain equivalent)Smithsonian
Terracotta kantharos (drinking cup with high handles), by Class W: The Persian Class of Head Vases

Terracotta kantharos (drinking cup with high handles)

Class W: The Persian Class of Head Vases · late 5th century BCE

Public domainThe Met
Title Page, by Etienne de Lavallée, French, 1735 – 1802

Title Page

Etienne de Lavallée, French, 1735 – 1802 · 1788

CC0 (public-domain equivalent)Smithsonian
Bugle in C, by Thomas Key

Bugle in C

Thomas Key · 1811

Public domainThe Met
Designs for Cartouches, by Gilles-Marie Oppenord, French, 1672–1742

Designs for Cartouches

Gilles-Marie Oppenord, French, 1672–1742 · 1749-1761

CC0 (public-domain equivalent)Smithsonian
Mirror with Handle in the Form of a Hathor Emblem

Mirror with Handle in the Form of a Hathor Emblem

Artist not stated in the record · ca. 1479–1425 BCE

Public domainThe Met
Deign for a Covered Tureen, by Johann Alois Seethaler, 1796 – 1835

Deign for a Covered Tureen

Johann Alois Seethaler, 1796 – 1835 · 1825–35

CC0 (public-domain equivalent)Smithsonian
Terracotta aryballos (perfume bottle) in the shape of a woman's head, by Oxford Class of Head Vases

Terracotta aryballos (perfume bottle) in the shape of a woman's head

Oxford Class of Head Vases · ca. 500 BCE

Public domainThe Met
Handle

Handle

Artist not stated in the record · ca. 1775

CC0 (public-domain equivalent)Smithsonian
Armor Garniture of George Clifford (1558–1605), Third Earl of Cumberland, by Jacob Halder

Armor Garniture of George Clifford (1558–1605), Third Earl of Cumberland

Jacob Halder · 1586

Public domainThe Met
Censer and Candelabrum Design, by Richard de Lalonde, French, active 1780–96

Censer and Candelabrum Design

Richard de Lalonde, French, active 1780–96 · 1775-1788

CC0 (public-domain equivalent)Smithsonian
Gold rosette with the head of a griffin

Gold rosette with the head of a griffin

Artist not stated in the record · ca. 630–620 BCE

Public domainThe Met
Two Candelabra Designs, by Richard de Lalonde, French, active 1780–96

Two Candelabra Designs

Richard de Lalonde, French, active 1780–96 · 1775-1788

CC0 (public-domain equivalent)Smithsonian
What was queried

Where these records came from.

Two archives are wired, and only two. Each one is filtered on its own rights field — never on a title match, and never on the presence of an image file.

  • The Met Collection API (Open Access)Rights field: isPublicDomain. 8302 matched · 24 examined · 0 dropped by the rights gate. Kept only where isPublicDomain === true and a file URL was published.12 shown
  • Smithsonian Open Access API (api.si.edu)Rights field: content.descriptiveNonRepeating.metadata_usage.access. 7484530 matched · 40 examined · 15 dropped by the rights gate. Kept only where metadata_usage.access === "CC0" and an image resource was published.12 shown

These figures describe the pass run at 2026-09-03 10:26 UTC, during this request. A completed pass is kept for 24 hours and replayed for an identical search, which is what keeps repeated queries inside Smithsonian’s 30-requests-per-hour allowance. A pass in which either archive failed to answer is never kept — an outage must not be replayed as though it were a finding about the catalogue.

Wikimedia Commons and the Library of Congress are deliberately not wired. Wikimedia was confirmed, on a live query, to return CC-BY material inside the same result set as genuine public domain works, and filtering it safely has not been designed yet. loc.gov was blocked by bot detection during the source evaluation, so its rights vocabulary has never been observed — and nothing here is built on a field nobody has read.

An image file is a rights claim. It never travels without its field.