Italian flintlock pistol

[fernando]

Originally Posted by Ibrahiim al Balooshi

... see http://transantique.com/articles/view/id/365/ for a short rendition by Catoire de Bionkur ...

I only see a link to a commercial shop & auction site, Ibrahiim; no article on Cominazzo
... Wrong link ?

[Fernando K]

Hello:

Just to make a point: chiseled work of masks in the deck (plate) and the flange (bridge) the trigger (trigger) and sun on the rake (frizeen) is mediocre if not bad. Same for the figure holding the lower jaw. The sheet of spring blades is far greater perfection.

As for the link uploaded by Ibrahim is a commercial product, and assertions are interested ....

Affectionately. Fernando K

[Matus]

I think no one disputes it's not a masterpiece :-) Anyhow, the brass furniture is quite interesting. I read somewhere (don't remember where exactly) that the Roman lock was widely used in central Italy during the 18th century although the quality of the works was quite rough. I think it fits very well to this piece.
I found a similar pistol at Christie's (sale 6345, lot 99).

Regards,
Matus

[Fernando K]

Hello:

Of course, just wanted to mention that the quality of the key (lock) does not correspond to the works of Cominazzo ....

Affectionately. Fernando K

[Ibrahiim al Balooshi]

Originally Posted by fernando

I only see a link to a commercial shop & auction site, Ibrahiim; no article on Cominazzo
... Wrong link ?

Salaams fernando~ It seems there was some commercial side to that site I mentioned but as you see on opening the page there is but one focus...that of the famous collector and one reference only to the master I was searching for; Lazario Kominazzo with a K.

I searched a good deal of the entire web for this reference and as it was the only one ..I went with that . It led me to several interesting pieces of information not least that his weapons appear to have not been necessarily complete as his speciality seems to have been in barrels so it is not surprising to find superb barrels mounted with all kinds of lesser quality parts.

I am, perhaps, not so convinced that there was such an artisan since it was common for signatures to be put on by other craftsmen and they often deliberately, it seems, made a misspelling. I therefor tend toward the Cominazzo family of gun makers unless anyone can show that there really was a different master?

An interesting thread all the same... and I much enjoyed adding my two baizas worth.

Regards,
Ibrahiim al Balooshi.

[fernando]

The first one in giving fame to the family was Angelo Lazarino, who was signing himself “Lazari Cominaz“ whom was active between the last years of the 16th. century and the first decades of the 1600's. His son Lazaro, who signed himself “Lazarino Cominazo“, but also “Lazaro Lazarino Cominazo”, is the author of the barrels of the beautiful couple of pistols here uploaded. Up to 1700 the Cominazzo built almost exclusively barrels, renowned in the whole world for their resistance. Still the couple of 'terzette' here uploaded, considering its top quality and of the lack of other signatures, makes us think that the work of Lazaro Lazarino should not have been circumscribed to the wonderful barrels alone. The common identification of their products was “Canes Lazzarine” (Lazarine barrels), after the ancestor’s the name.
Some members of the family moved elsewhere and the last ones were still working, although without most of the ancient fame and ability, at the end of the 1800's. The fame of the "lazzarine" barrels was such, especially abroad, that they were counterfeited by smiths from all parts of Europe and marked with inscriptions very close to the original, sometimes absolutely equal. Considering all counterfeits and the several signatures of the components of the family, is not always easy to distinguish the authentic barrels. Still those considered authentic are the ones with a fileted top or those with more elements. Another characteristic that makes us incline to the authenticity is the presence, at the beginning and in the end the signature, of a kind of three lobed asterisk.

.

[Matchlock]

This Mediterranean lock type is called miquelet to be exact!

Best,
Michael

[fernando]

Originally Posted by Matchlock

This Mediterranean lock type is called miquelet to be exact!

Best,
Michael

Not this variation, i'm afraid, Michl
To put it simple, when the main spring acts in front (toe) of the cock and not in the back (heel), is called A La Romana.

[Matchlock]

Originally Posted by fernando

Not this variation, i'm afraid, Michl
To put it simple, when the main spring acts in front (toe) of the cock and not in the back (heel), is called A La Romana.

Oh, I see -

Thanks so much, 'Nando, my dearest friend,
and sorry for troubling you and others as well.

Of course you are right!
I guess I should have either reread the respective passages in Arne Hoff's Feuerwaffen and/or Hayward's The Art of the Gunmaker before firing from the hip - or, even better, stuck to my core competence: 14th to 17th c. Northern European firearms.

Please do forgive an old and hasty 'gunfighter' who was just tryin' to put things straight - and sorta got himself in pullin' his plow iron too quickly ...

On the other hand: I've just caught myself breeding over my third beer - maybe that accounts for me hitting the target!


Best wishes for a good and peaceful night to everybody, especially to those who are not quite so lucky as we can be on this very evening.

And please let me express just how proud and glad I feel to be a continuous part of this forum (sometimes not as continual as I wish to ..), and how grateful I am for you keeping me hanging on!


Michl

[Pukka Bundook]

I don't really think the pistol in the original post here is of any great age.
All the metalwork looks quite new, "Sharp" even, and has none of the slightly worn appearance seen on arms of the 18th century and earlier.
It appears whoever made it was unfamiliar with construction methods of the 17th/18th century, and wasn't much of a hand at inletting.


Very best wishes,
Richard.