Posted 7 years ago
k-kk
(1 item)
Does anybody know what this key would have been used for? I found it in a box of antique keys and locks - many Victorian.
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I used to collect keys and I do not remember seeing anything like this. Aside from being simply a key for a strange lock, I can think of one thing this might be used for. This is only a guess: In days of old when hotels had "box" locks that required long "skeleton" keys to open and were inherently easy to pick, a traveler, fearful of someone entering his room while he slept could have been placed this device into the keyhole and rotated it preventing anyone outside the room from inserting another key. There are more complicated devices, called "keyhole guards" designed to do just that. Of course, if you are already in the room simply leaving the key in the lock, half-turned, should do the same thing. So . . . ?
Its oddly slightly 'curved' length, plus that its 4 'bits' appear to be basically identical generic squarish shapes, lead me to have to wonder if this is more an item of 'jewelry' than an actual key for a lock...??
BTW, how big/long *is* it, actually?? :-)
It looks like cast iron - not very attractive as jewelry. There is a slight spacing difference; but I can't imagine why it would be curved - unless that's a trick of the camera.