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Description: | Copper-alloy rotary key with partly incomplete bow, dating to the late 13th to 15th century. The remaining fragment of bow appears to be rectilinear, internally stepped down to a central notch at the start of the stem. The stem begins with a double moulding, and is then oval in cross-section. It is hollow at the tip. The bit consists of two vertical wards, both with two channels. The front ward has two shallow clefts in the front edge, which is in line with the end of the stem.These large keys are of LMMC Type VI, which Ward Perkins dates to the 14th and 15th centuries, and which often have elaborate bits (Ward Perkins 1940, 140-1). Similar keys on the PAS database include NMS-16B450 and KENT-74B0E0. NMS-60FE00 is a fragment of stem with a very similar bit.The stem and bit of a similar key was found in a context of c. 1270-1350 in London (Egan 1998, no. 313).
Original Image | Publisher: | http://finds.org.uk | Source: | Portable Antiquities | Identifier: | https://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/ | Go to resource |
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