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Key said to have come from the State Apartments at Windsor Castle, late seventeenth century
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Key said to have come from the State Apartments at Windsor Castle, late seventeenth century
Gold, possibly gilt metal
Museum number: L113
Not on display
This golden key bears the royal cipher of King William III and Queen Mary and probably dates from c.1690. According to the Museum's earliest inventories (1837) this key previously belonged to George Davis who, like his father before him, had been the royal locksmith at Windsor Castle. This imposing key is supposed to have fitted locks in the State Apartments. Such keys were used ceremonially by prominent courtiers close to the King.
There is a very similar key of the same approximate date in the Harley Collection at Welbeck Abbey.
There is a very similar key of the same approximate date in the Harley Collection at Welbeck Abbey.
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