House keys, the perfect accessory

[mmcnealy]

So, I got to thinking about house keys today as accessories to costumes. So I went looking on my lunch break for pictures of period keys and if there were any modern equivalents that I could afford.

Informative sites with pictures of keys from the 15-16th century
http://www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/museums/oikos/port64.htm
http://www.aschkenes.com/16th-19th%20Century%20Keys%201.htm

http://www.londonjoiners.com/sales/list_page/keys

A site selling inexpenisive (in comparison) antique keys
http://www.deabath.com/Keys/keys.htm



This is a tempting eBay store
http://stores.ebay.com/The-Compulsive-Collector_W0QQcolZ2QQdirZQ2d1QQdptZ0QQpZ7QQsclZallQQsotimedisplayZ2QQtZkm

Comments

[aeddie.livejournal.com]

The pottery looks awfully good for the price she is asking. I wonder what sort of guarantee of authenticity she is offering. But then I'm a cynic who has an ex-girlfriend (yes Mary knows about her) who makes things that look a lot like that.

[mmcnealy.livejournal.com]

Hmm... good point. She doesn't say anything about guarentees of authenticity. Some of her cheap stuff is in pieces, which might be neat to get if one made pottery.

Does your ex-girlfriend make stuff to sell?

[aeddie.livejournal.com]

Yep, and I just emailed her to see if she is coming to Purgatorio.

[aeddie.livejournal.com]

And she is coming. Her website is www.rakurakutei.com

[mmcnealy.livejournal.com]

Thanks!

[jenthompson.livejournal.com]

I bought some antique brass keys to wear with my peasanty outfits on ebay for a couple of bucks. Try searching for skeleton keys and you should find a lot. Of course, they're a bit simpler than the more fancy period keys, but they still provide the right look for not a lot of cash.

[mmcnealy.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the tip and the key word to search on, I knew there was more out there, somewhere. ;) Ebay has lots of good possibilities.

[ciorstan.livejournal.com]

I think you ought to be warned before some officious person asks you why you're wearing a key (singular) at an SCA event. A Silver Key and a Gold Key are registered SCA heraldic symbols, and have a specific meaning attached to them. Go ahead and wear at least two or more keys, but wearing one might get you tagged as a seneschal or one who can provide loaner garb.

That exact thing happened to me once. I added another couple of skeleton keys to the one I was wearing dangling from my belt and all was fine. This is one of the sillier things that happens in the SCA-- running afoul of non-period symbols associated with ordinary objects. Just don't get me going about colored belts...

[mmcnealy.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the warning, but I don't just want ONE key, I want a whole big dangley bunch of them!

[ciorstan.livejournal.com]

Sounds like a good thing to whack someone with, then...*snicker* Aeddie had better watch out at Purgatorio!

[mmcnealy.livejournal.com]

Keys as weapons.... Now I hadn't thought of that. Would that qualify me for the heavy household combat war section? ;)

And in this ring, German house wife armed with a rolling pin and house keys against .....

[aeddie.livejournal.com]

Hey now, trouts are one thing, keys are another.

As a deputy seneschal do I get to wear half a key?