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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 central circular perforation, a shank with a broadly oval cross section which is thicker towards the bit, and a simple rectangular bit with single indents half way down the sides. 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 36.1mm long, the bow is 14.1mm wide by 2.1mm thick, the shaft 5.4mm by 3.6mm and the bit 6.2mm by 7.1 by 2.5mm thick; it weighs 5.27 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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