Ethnographic Arms & Armour - Two Fine Nuremberg Wheel-Lock Pistols in the Emden Armory, Dated 1560

Overall length 63.5 cm each, cal. 12 mm.

The are stocked in pear wood and inlaid with plaques of engraved staghorn (not 'ivory'!). The Adam and Eve scene under the Tree of Knowledge is a favorite Late Gothic biblical ornamentation which was in use for as long as the 1560's (German Mid Renaissance period).

The ball butts were not for banging the opponent's head, as I have often read. They of course wold have splintered right away. Actually they acted as a secure and easy grip when drawing the pistol out of the leather holster, as these were horseman's pistols.

Please note that one of them still retains a small raised base on the rear of the barrel which originally had a tubular backsight shoved over it (now missing). As I mentioned in earlier threads on arquebuses, this is an old relic of the first half of the 16th c. when there was no differentiation yet between arquebuses and pistols, and both had to be aimed twohanded.

The 'belt' hooks consequently were not for attachment to a belt but to the outside of the holsters so the pistols would not just hop out when the horse went galloping. :cool: :eek:

Emden is located in the extreme North West of Germany bordering on the Netherlands. Its armory kept in the city hall has a 400 year old tradition and I always enjoyed my various trips there.

The scans are from their new catalog on wheel-lock pistols, I attach a cover scan. Unfortunately the pictures in that catalog are only about stamp size so I could not post better quality illustrations.

Best,
Michael