1576 dated musket - unknown marking

[adrian]

I am hoping that someone here can identify this stamp for me please, I think that it is distinct enough to be a gunmaker's mark, rather than some sort of decoration.

It is on the breech of a 1576 dated Matchlock musket, it is quite a weighty piece, in 10 bore. All the provenance I have is that it was part of the Apethorpe Hall arms & armour that was auctioned in 1978.

The barrel, once about 48" has been cut down to 39.25" - whether to lighten it for use in the Civil War is a matter of speculation. It has, in modern times, been restocked and restored, some of the lock parts are perhaps original - but mainly the barrel is of historic interest.

[Raf]

Presumably you are aware that the Apethorpe arms and armour were in part from the collection of the mid nineteenth century collector Sir Samuel Rush Meyrick, Bart. via Dr. William Meyrick, and Leonard Brassey, Esq., MP.
Adds interest.

[Jim McDougall]

Originally Posted by Raf

Presumably you are aware that the Apethorpe arms and armour were in part from the collection of the mid nineteenth century collector Sir Samuel Rush Meyrick, Bart. via Dr. William Meyrick, and Leonard Brassey, Esq., MP.
Adds interest.

MOST salient addition Raf!!! Meyrick was one of the key sages of arms and armor study whose venerable writings were the foundation of the Kernoozers
and DeCossey, Dean, Laking et al.

The very notion that this example was from these esteemed collection would suggest that more on these markings must exist in the notes and works of these gentlemen. It seems as if I have seen this very arrangement, if not even the date or close to it in similar fashion on another gun.

How I miss Michael (Matchlock).

[Jim McDougall]

Just realized where I'd seen that serpent mark...it was a guild oriented marking used by armorers in Milan, and seems to have been used in some variation. In some references it is suggested to be a 'makers' mark, however I think that is an assumption rather than to a recorded maker.

It seems that when a date is applied to a sword blade openly, without other lettering, marks etc. that perhaps it is a commemorative, possibly placed to recall an important event date to the owner (this 1576 date seems scratched in by the owner with the erratic scripting).

[fernando]

Originally Posted by Jim McDougall

...How I miss Michael (Matchlock)...

Indeed Jim !

[fernando]

The catalogue:

[adrian]

Thank you gentlemen, I had encountered mention of Sir Samuel Rush Meyrick in connection with the Apethorpe Hall collection but had no realised that in itself was significant. I will get in touch with the Royal Armouries, later this year, to request a search of the catalogue they hold of that collection.