Very Interesting 15th Century Haquebut Barrels in a Serbian Museum

[Matchlock]

Found on the web.

All of wrought iron, most of them possibly retaining traces of original minium paint (red lead).

From top to bottom:

- ca. 1450-60, of Nuremberg type, octagonal with shifting sides, a heavily swamped muzzle head and a rear socket for a wooden tiller stock, the finely staged hook placed in the middle of the barrel, which is typical of the mid 15th century

- extremely hard to classify as any characteristic formal detail is missing; probably early 16th century, of round cylindrical section throughout, no significant muzzle section, the small raised part on the rear top either an igniting pan or a crude back sight, the bigger protruding part on the rear underside possibly a fragmented hook or a loop for a barrel pin. Maybe the whole piece is a heavily altered fragment

- ca. 1470-80, a nice and slender octagonal barrel of characteristic German (Nuremberg) form, with heavily swamped muzzle head, the finely staged hook just slightly ahead of the middle of the barrel

- ca. 1460-70, of plain octagonal or ten-sided (?) Bohemian type, with slighty tapering muzzle section, the noticeably wider and rounded rear formed as a socket for a wooden tiller, the finely staged hook placed in the first third of the whole piece

- ca. 1450-60, like before, only the hook still almost in the center area of the barrel, a feature which accounts for the slightly earlier formal (!) dating

- ca. 1460-70, octagonal, also of Bohemian type but with slightly swamped muzzle head, the finely staged hook placed in the beginning upper third of the barrel, the rear part formed as a socket for receiving a wooden tiller stock

- below, left corner: only a part can be seen of a heavy cannon barrel made of staves and rings (German Stabringgeschütz), ca. 1400-30; in the right corner a crudely wrought stone ball for a cannon, 14th to 16th century

Best,
Michael