|
Date: |
|
Description: | An incomplete cast copper alloy rotary key dating from the medieval period. Mass: 21.0g; length: 51.4mm; width 27.2mm; thickness: 12.9mm (across the loop at the rear of the bow). The key consists of the bow, a suspension loop at the rear, and part of the shank. The bow is broadly lozenge shaped in plan, with a small lobe protruding from the top and bottom corners (although one is almost entirely worn away). To the rear of the bow is a slightly crushed suspension loop, which can be seen to be sub-circular when the key is viewed end-on. To the front of the bow is the shank, with a collar/shoulders where the shank meets the bow. Within the bow, there are similarly sized circular perforations in three of the four corners (diameter: 4.2-4.8mm), and a larger sub-circular perforation in the fourth corner (length: 8.2mm), adjacent to a loop at the end of the bow. The rear edge of the larger perforation appears worn, and it is likely that the key would have been suspended from this, with a strap running through the perforation and within the loop at the back. There are three linear grooves visible on the top and bottom surfaces of the collar, transverse to the orientation of the shank, but these are rather indistinct on the sides of the key, probably due to wear. The shank has a sub-circular cross-section with a slightly off-centre perforation (diameter: 4.7mm, depth 10mm). The key has a lightly pitted green surface, and has been recently coated in a wax. The break does not appear to be recent.
In the Museum of London's ??Medieval Catalogue" (1940 p133-144), Ward Perkins has introduced a classification system for door and chest keys. The key described in this record is most closely related to his Type VI which is, ????characterized by the solid shank, bored at the end to leave a conical hole, by the massive bit, and by the elaborate form of the bow. The latter may be lobed or lozenge-shaped or a combination of both ???? (p140). He also states that an additional feature on a certain number of these keys is a loop at the top for suspension. Ward Perkins dates a number of closely related copper alloy keys of Type VI to the 14th and 15th centuries, and argues that the suspension loop is probably a 15th century feature. This latter date is suggested for the rotary key recorded here. | Source: | Portable Antiquities | Creator: | Slarke, Duncan - Portable Antiquities Scheme | Identifier: | http://www.findsdatabase.org.uk/hms/pas_... | Language: | en-GB | Go to resource |
|
More Like this...
-
Rotary Key
An incomplete cast copper-alloy rotary…
-
-
-
-
ROTARY KEY
An incomplete cast copper-alloy rotary…
-
-
ROTARY KEY
Cast copper-alloy rotary key. Medieval,…
-
-
-
|