Key

1 of 2

Artist
Name	Unknown
Basic Info
Period	Byzantine period
Created in	Ancient & Byzantine World, Asia, Antioch (Syria)
Century	1st millennium CE
Culture	Byzantine
Dimensions	5.2 x 3.1 cm (2 1/16 x 1 1/4 in.)
Harvard Museum
Department	Department of Ancient and Byzantine Art & Numismatics
Division	Asian and Mediterranean Art
Contact	am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu

Context

This key has an elaborately decorated handle ring with five small eyelets, various decorative elements, and a hollow shaft that swings freely from the handle. Two short, rectangular teeth rise perpendicularly from the end of the rectangular protrusion.
 
Keys with handles that rotate separately from the shafts are one of the typical features of Byzantine turning keys, although the handle ring on this example is unusual (1).
 
NOTES:
 
1. Compare G. Vikan and J. Nesbitt, Security in Byzantium: Locking, Sealing, Weighing (Washington, DC, 1980) 4, nos. 3-8.
 
David Smart

TechnicalDetails

Chemical Composition

Technical Observations

Several areas have been cleaned down to a smooth brown patina, but most areas are slightly obscured by a layer of green malachite with underlying red cuprite. The surface is fairly well preserved, although somewhat obscured by corrosion products.
 
The object is intact, although some loss of surface detail has occurred. The key and ring were made separately by lost-wax casting. The ring was inserted into an opening at the end of the key, which was then hammered slightly closed to secure the ring. The designs in the surface appear to be engraved. The thickness of the elements and their complex three-dimensional shape give the impression they were cast. Deformations at the mouths of the holes indicate they were drilled, and the grooves are striated and appear to have been cut by abrasive cold working. The key teeth and end hole were also cut by cold working. The key shaft was closed around the (integral) pin of the hinged ring by pressure or hammering.
 
Carol Snow and Henry Lie (submitted 2002, updated 2010)

Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Gift of the Committee for the Excavation of Antioch and its Vicinity