a seventeenth century matchlock ?

[Raf]

A nice example which a lot of people would be pleased to own .

Scroll down and you may change your mind.
The same gun before being restored by an internationally recognised firearms restorer some years ago . Its whats not their thats the the worrying bit . No flashpan , no trigger , and crucially , no sign of a lock. The whole thing now crumbling to dust . Makes you think...

[cornelistromp]

It's a Dutch musket,well a musket used in Holland in first half of the 17thc.
the decoration in this style is Dutch, as one as pictured on the night watch by rembrandt
extremely rare, herewith another example.

best,
Jasper

[Matchlock]

Hi Raf,


I must say that I have my severe doubts as to the authenticity of this matchlock musket.
It is definitley not Dutch as its general shape denotes but German, either Suhl or Zella made. The sample that Jasper posted can be dated ca. 1620 and must be of greater length, ca. 156-160 cm, and so are all the other muskets in his post. They have nothing to do with our piece in discussion.

First of all, the overall shape of the gun - the form of the buttstock, barrel and lock, disregarding the stock decoration - suggest that this is a characteristic German military matchlock musket of ca. 1645-50. Many specimen of this perculiar type are known in both public and private collections, and the octagonal breech of the barrel usually is struck with maker's marks and the town marks of either Suhl or Zella, both Thuringian centers of 17th c. firearms mass production.
Representing the latest French style that was a guide line in that period, the barrel shows a short 16-sided stage in between the octagonal breech and the round forward section.
The trigger gurad on your gun is missing, and the grip of the pan cover is writhen in a way that denotes that it is a later addition. All the pan covers of that type were identical in shape, please refer to the attachments in detail.
Could we see the barrel marks, please?

The overall length of the gun should be ca. 1,40 m.


Now comes the tricky point: the beechwood full stock shows a profuse inlay work comprising materials such as bone and mother-of-pearl that would be characteristic of Dresden muskets of the Trabanten-Leibgarde of the Elector Christian I of Saxony, which means 1580's! Of course, these guns really looked archaic, with their great overall length of 156 cm and their long tiller triggers that were employed without trigger guards.

Thus we face a temporary discrepancy that cannot be easily solved. I do not know of one single instance that would prove that that kind of late-16th c. stock decoration was used almost without any stylistic alterations in the mid-17th century.

Poland however is known to have 'embellished' a great number of originally plain German and Austrian military guns in ca. the 1680's to ca. 1700 but in a completely obsolete style of ca. 1600. This one could be such a Polish-embellished gun.


Attached on top please find a number of typical plain matchlock muskets of this Zella/Suhl manufactured 1640's type:

- in my collection (with Zella marks), coming from the former Blell/Zeulenroda colln., the barrel and lock struck with Zella marks

- a group of 8 of these muskets preserved in the Musée de l'Armée, Paris, all with Zella marks (author's photos, 1994)

- Dorotheum Vienna, 29 Febr thru 3rd March 1912



Following a few samples of 1580's Saxon (Dresden) matchlock muskets with highly decorated stocks.


Best,
Michael

[Matchlock]

The muskets in Paris and in a 1912 Dorotheum auction.

The Paris muskets are, next to an extremely long sharpshooter's Italian wheellock musket of ca. 1640 and an 8-shot matchlock musket with 8 pans and touch holes and movable lock (!) of ca. 1600:
- a German/Suhl matchlock musket of ca. 1615-20 with sparse bone inlay
another of ca. 1600-10
- a characteristic military Dutch/Emden matchlock musket, the barrel and lock made in Suhl, ca. 1615-20
- a German matchlock musket with long tiller trigger and inlaíd stock, 1590's
When comparing the latter two in both style and period please keep in mind that they are 20 to 30 years apart!


I also attached photos of some Saxon/Dresden matchlock muskets of the 1580's, with their characteristic mother-of-pearl and bone inlay.
The first photo depicts the obverse side of a matchlock musket on the right-hand side. Please note the tiller trigger and typical lock plate with the early-style serpentine.

It can be generally stated that matchlock muskets with inlaid stocks did normally not continue to be made after ca. 1630, the Dutch ones being the latest in existence.
When dating a musket, the shape of the buttstock is very relevant: the still flared upper curve of the butt is accompanied by a notable belly on the underside, and the sharp edges of the buttstock start vanishing when the formal development comes near the mid-17th century when the new Baroque style replaces the former Renaissance sense of style. But the barrel, lock and mounts made large stylistic progress as well after the end of the Thirty Years War.

m

[Raf]

Thanks Michael. I knew you you would have something to say about it .Yes it does look like a standard German military musket and no I too am struggling to reconcile this with the decoration. Attached are the marks.
The whole of the flashpan and cover have evidently been added by the restorer

[Matchlock]

That's what I thought: the town mark ZEL and the Saxon coat-of-arms (in the 17th century, Zella belonged to Saxony while being part of Thuringia today), two marks that are identical on my musket and can be found on all guns from that Zella series, prove that this originally was a plain military musket of ca. 1645.

The riddle has been solved - sorry for the bad news, Raf!


As for the question mark in your title: yes, this once was a genuine 17th c. matchlock musket, the stock however prettified later-on, and in an earlier style than the rest of the gun.

Btw: the fire shield as well is a fantasy addition - please refer to the fire shield on my gun.


m

[Matchlock]

Here are close-ups of some of the Zella marks on the barrels of the group of 8 muskets in the Musée de l'Armée Paris.

m