Warehouse 13, Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Doorknob Artifact

original movie prop

In third season episode Past Imperfect, Claudia and Jinks retrieve an old doorknob from the farmhouse of a deceased collector in rural Wisconsin, only to have it quickly stolen by someone, eventually discovered to be renegade FBI agent Sally Stukowski. As the subsequent episode The 40th Floor opens, Stukowski uses the doorknob, originally from a locked door at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire, to torture and eventually incinerate one of the Warehouse Regents. The artifact is seen again (missing the spindle) in fifth season opening episode Endless Terror, where its effects are being tested on human subjects in an alternate timeline Warehouse 13. Of note: Unlike many artifacts, the intense burning caused by this piece goes right through the usual purple specimen handling gloves.

The fire at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory was one of the worst industrial disasters in the history of New York City. Just before closing time on 25 March 1911, a fire at a textile company in Greenwich Village cost the lives of 146 garment workers, mostly young immigrant women, who died of burns, smoke inhalation, and jumping to their deaths from the 8th, 9th, and 10th story windows. Multiple factors of criminal carelessness on the part of the business and building owners contributed to the high death toll, including the then-standard practice of locking most stairwells and exits to prevent pilferage and unauthorized breaks.

Heavily weathered antique metal doorknob; spindle missing. 

From VIP Fan Auctions & NBCUniversal.