Artifacts? In a museum, in the"lost and found" box. I tend to go with the wizard that is a bit careless over the super planned one.
The box may or may not be a mimic.
Research room: Wizard Itor uses the back room of his office. The front room contains mops and cleaning supplies (some very magical). The door is even labeled "Jan Itor Supplies"
That sounds like a prime opportunity for the fighter to make chainsaw noises and swing it around like a sword, potentially denting it. Tell the artificer player that it'll take seconds to get it working in a pinch, but the character can be fixing it up for as long as they want to milk it.