Howard Nowes Ancient Art

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Roman Cast Bronze Lift Key, Eastern Mediterranean, circa 1st–4th century ADA well-preserved ...
08/11/2026

Roman Cast Bronze Lift Key, Eastern Mediterranean, circa 1st–4th century AD

A well-preserved example of a Roman cast bronze lift key (also called a tumbler or slide key), designed to operate the ubiquitous wooden pin-tumbler locks used across the Empire from the 1st through 4th centuries AD.

Cast in bronze with arched bow with ornate finger pad and suspension loop above a rectangular plate, tapering shank terminating in a perpendicular bit with four stepped rectilinear teeth. This type functioned by inserting the toothed bit through a slot in the door, lifting internal wooden pins within a horizontal bolt, and sliding the bolt free — a mechanism in continuous use from pre-Roman times until roughly 700 AD.

Such keys secured household chests, cupboards, strongboxes, and doors, and smaller versions were even mounted on finger rings — a Roman innovation for safeguarding jewelry boxes and valuables. Close parallels in form and scale are published from sites across the Eastern Mediterranean, Thrace, and the Black Sea region and are held in major museum collections.

Length: 2¾ in. (7 cm). Deep green cupric patina with earthen encrustation; minor surface wear consistent with age.
Provenance: Private Indiana collection, assembled prior to 1970; accompanied by the collector's original black-and-white photograph., https://howardnowes.com/products/roman-cast-bronze-lift-key Art for Eternity

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