The display plaque reads:

" The ass lock is a toy used for pleasure today, but was thought to have been a torture device during the Spanish Inquisition. However, the historical usage of the ass lock, also called the pear of anguish or choke lock, has been challenged. There are no historical accounts of its usage in the Middle Ages, although other kinds of torture were common. Some historians have claimed that the ass lock was a horrific object of cruelty that resulted in the death of victims. Other historians believe it was created for display in torture museums for its shock value. Ass locks have been recently redesigned to apply a pleasurable sensation of pressure when spread, functioning as a butt plug and a chastity device. "