|
Date: |
|
Description: | A cast copper-alloy rotary-key dating from the medieval period. Mass: 29.9g. Overall length: 76.7mm. Bow: 24.8mm from top to bottom and 28.3mm long. Bit: 14.0mm from top to bottom, 14.4mm long, and 3.9mm wide. The bow is sub-lozenge shaped in plan with rounded top and bottom corners and a circular perforation in each of the four corners. There is an incomplete suspension loop to the rear. The suspension loop can be seen to be sub-circular when the key is viewed end-on. There is a rather indistinct grooved collar where the bow joins the shank. In section, the shank is sub-circular and increasingly oval towards the bit-end. There is central perforation in the end of the shank above the bit. The bit is slightly incomplete but there is a cleft on the bottom and one to either side. The key has a brown and green pitted surface to which a wax coating has been applied.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. Ward Perkins describes the type: "They are 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 is the date suggested for the rotary key recorded here.
Original Image | Publisher: | http://finds.org.uk | Source: | Portable Antiquities | Identifier: | http://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/r... | 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,…
-
-
-
-
-
|