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Description: | Medieval cast copper-alloy rotary key for a small lock, probably on a casket. The key has a flat circular bow with a small central perforation, a shank with a broadly oval cross section which is thicker towards the bit, and a simple rectangular bit. The end of the shank is hollow to key in to the lock. The key has a well developed green patina and appears very worn. It is 35.7mm long, the bow is 15.4mm wide by 2.5mm thick, the shaft 5.9mm by 3.2mm and the bit 6.4mm by 7.7mm; it weighs 5.95 grams. In "The Medieval Household, Daily Living c.1150-c.1450", Egan (1998, p111) comments that small, crude keys with circular bows and mainly very simple bits was a long-lasting form, from at least the late 12th to the late 14th century. He suggests that these sometimes almost rudimentary keys may have been for locks on caskets (ibid.)
Original Image | Publisher: | http://finds.org.uk | Source: | Portable Antiquities | Identifier: | http://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/r... | Go to resource |
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