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Description: | Incomplete cast copper-alloy Roman key handle. The shank and bit are entirely missing. The handle is formed from an openwork trilobate or ??fleur-de-lis?? flanked by two small leaves. On top of the central lobe is an integral subrectangular knop, D-shaped in section. It is very uneven and resembles a casting sprue, though it may just be a poor casting of the globular knop generally found on this type of handle. The object in general is poorly cast. Holes and seams still have casting sprues and the base is D-shaped in section and solid whereas most are socketed. Below the fleur-de-lis is a rectangle panel with two grooves, which extend around it, but do not match (suggesting the two parts of the mould moved during casting). Below this the handle tapers and then has a flat transverse moulding, before tapering again to the D-shaped sectioned end. The outer edges on both surfaces of the fleur-de-lis are decorated with incised lines, which do not extend evenly around all areas. These may have been added after the manufacturing process, though this seems an odd effort to make with such a poorly cast example. The surfaces of the object are pitted and uneven. The original surface has a mid green patina and exposed surfaces are lighter green. The object is 67mm long, 5.3mm wide, 5.5-7mm thick and weighs 42.14g. A similar, but not exact example from Colchester can be seen in The Roman small finds from excavations in Colchester 1971-9, figure 142, number 4161 (Crummy 1983). Keys of this type have been dated to post 150AD. | Source: | Portable Antiquities | Creator: | McDonald, Caroline - Portable Antiquities Scheme | Identifier: | http://www.findsdatabase.org.uk/hms/pas_... | Language: | en-GB | Go to resource |
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