Juggling life, liberty and happiness

A question came up recently on GermanRenCostume about whether women wore keys on their belts, as the lady asking the question was certain she had seen a picture once, but now couldn't find it. In response I wrote the below

Yes, women most certainly did wear keys on their belts, but I'm not sure kampfrau would have. I've looked through my kampfrau artwork and haven't found any that showed them with keys, but given their nomadic lifestyle I'd be surprised if they were actually wearing them. I've included below a small selection of online images of women wearing keys on their belts, as well as a few examples of period keys. For more key pictures I recommend going to your nearest good art library (or friend who has a copy) and looking at the German Single-leaf Woodcuts 1500-1550, there are lots in there.

However, there are plenty of pictures with town women wearing keys, and Textiler Hausrat (in the groups Files section, Files > Textiler Hausrat Translations > Women's Accessories , file name is 6.4 Gurtelutensilien)

It has this to say about women and keys:
From Textiler Hausrat, Kleidung und Haustextilien in Nurnberg von
1500 – 1650 by Jutta Zander-Seidel, pages 145 - 149, Translation
by Katherine Barich

6.4 Gurtelutensilien: Beutel - Messer – Schlüssel – Nadelbänd
"In the middle of the century, references can be found to hanging
purses (hängende Beutel). (418) Knives and bunches of keys became
a specific iconographic representation in middle class portraits.
As seen in the picture of the wife of Erhard Maler by Georg Pencz
and also in the full length portrait of Elsbeth Lochmann by Tobias
Stimmer, they carry these symbols of their domestic circle with
self confidence, (Illustrations 137, 138) while in the second half
of the 16th century the usefulness of the utensils takes second
place to their decorative value. Bags, cutlery and keys were a
part of the appropriate "portrait clothing" which included as well
a sleeved bodice, skirt and decorated apron, which only sometimes
left its origin of the workaday middle class world (Illustration
51); then the fashion wound down and disappeared entirely in the
17th century when the middle class tried to increase their
connection to the nobility by wearing similar styles. In the place
of these utensils appeared gloves, specialties (Fächern) and
decorated handkerchiefs as are seen as attributes in noble’s
portraits, as well as the return of the one piece gown into
fashion. (Illustration 108, 139)"

Here are a collection of 15 century keys from Bildindex (found at Orte / M / München / Sammlungen / Öffentliche Sammlungen / Bayerisches Nationalmuseum / Kunstgewerbe / Sonstiges Metall / Profanes Gerät / Türklopfer )
Small image
http://www.bildindex.de/bilder/MI02321f12b.jpg
Big image
http://www.bildindex.de/bilder/MI02321f12a.jpg

Pictures of women with keys:
Amorous Peasants by Albrecht Durer, (1484-1499)
http://www.wga.hu/art/d/durer/2/11/1/15peasan.jpg

Seated woman by Albrecth Durer, 1514
http://www.wga.hu/art/d/durer/2/11/4/06seated.jpg

Verspottung Ijobs;Vertreibung der Herden Ijobs
Dieses Bild: 002069
Kunstwerk: Tafelmalerei ; Flügelaltar ; Brixen
Dokumentation: 1515 ; 1525 ; Innsbruck ; Österreich ; Tirol ; Landesmuseum Ferdinandeum ; IN 75
-Full view of woman
http://www.imareal.oeaw.ac.at/server/images/7003555.JPG
-Belt detail showing keys, knife and purse
http://www.imareal.oeaw.ac.at/server/images/7003556.JPG

Begegnung an der Goldenen Pforte
Hl. Anna
Dieses Bild: 002437
Kunstwerk: Tafelmalerei ; Flügelaltar ; Südtirol
Dokumentation: 1514 ; 1514 ; Meran ; Italien ; Südtirol ; Städtisches Museum ; IN 27
-Keys, rosary and I think a purse hanging off of her belt.
http://www.imareal.oeaw.ac.at/server/images/7003920.JPG

-Another example of a period key
Schlüssel
Dieses Bild: 003700
Kunstwerk: Original , Eisenware ; Schlüssel
Dokumentation: 1500 ; 1550 ; Bozen ; Italien ; Südtirol ; Lauben 17, ehem. bischöflicher Amtssitz Madonnenapotheke Dr. Liebl ; privat
http://www.imareal.oeaw.ac.at/server/images/3003700.JPG

Heimsuchung Mariens
Dieses Bild: 004689
Kunstwerk: Tafelmalerei ; Flügelaltar ; Taig Sebastian ; Süddeutsch
Dokumentation: 1518 ; 1522 ; Nördlingen ; Deutschland ; Stadtmuseum
-Keys, purse and other things hanging off of a womans belt.
http://www.imareal.oeaw.ac.at/server/images/7006325.JPG


Heimsuchung Mariens
Dieses Bild: 009895
Kunstwerk: Wandmalerei ; Innenfresko rechte Seitenwand ; Slowenien
Dokumentation: 1504 ; 1504 ; Sv. Primos ; Slowenien ; Filialkirche Hll. Primus und Felicianus
-Purse and keys
http://www.imareal.oeaw.ac.at/server/images/7010358.JPG

Boys and men wore keys too.

Ecce Homo
Dieses Bild: 011945
Kunstwerk: Tafelmalerei ; Flügelaltar Jakobusaltar ; Slowakei ; Jo:19:004-016 , Lk:23:022-025
Dokumentation: 1508 ; 1517 ; Levoca ; Slowakei ; Pfarrkirche St. Jakob
-Picture of a boy with a key (and he's wearing the cutest red waffenrock)
http://www.imareal.oeaw.ac.at/server/images/7012454.JPG

Kupferbemessung
Dieses Bild: 000153
Kunstwerk: Aquarell ; Schwazer Bergbuch ; Miniatur ; Kolber Jörg , Lässl Ludwig ; Tirol
Dokumentation: 1556 ; 1556 ; Innsbruck ; Österreich ; Tirol ; Landesmuseum Ferdinandeum ; Cod. Dipl. 856 ; fol. 168r
-Man wearing keys on his belt
http://www.imareal.oeaw.ac.at/server/images/3000153.JPG

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