Wheel-Lock Spanners ca. 1520-1620

[Matchlock]

Originally Posted by cornelistromp

Hi Michael,

Beautiful piece, It seams that you are collecting longer then I do.
The quality you have achieved in your collection is almost impossible to reach now a days.
I listed 2 swords in this thread with the same decoration as our spanners.
Im looking forward to your reaction

thanks+regards

Hi Cornelis,

Please forgive me for not replying any earlier to that interesting comparison.

It is obvious that both the sword at the Klingenmusem Solingen and the one in your collection have almost identical zoomorphic quillons which still reflect the Romanesque and Gothic styles. The stylized animal heads which are also found in the gargoyles of cathedrals actually had an apotropaic function, meaning that they were meant to fend off evil superstitiously.

You are also exactly right in pointing out the stylistic relationship between those quillons and the decoration on our combined spanners and priming flasks, which actually is the basic criterion of my dating of them.

The Solingen catalog text states that the quillons may be earlier than the rest of the sword, and this is most probably true for your sword as well because the pommel should not be datable to any earlier than ca. 1580.

It is very demanding to observe and recognize such stylistic criteria which applied to all contemporary arts and crafts alike.

Michael

[cornelistromp]

Hi Michael,

thank you for your very interesting reply.

the Pommel of my sword is of Norman type 46, which Norman dates possibly about 1600-30. As all parts of this sword seem to belong to each other. I think this type of pommel can be seen as a Sub type of the South European pommel Norman Type 47 (1545-1640) and came a bit later in Fashion in the Northern European countries. (second part of the 16thC.)

kind regards

[Matchlock]

Those were the predecessors of - amongst others - Late Gothic to Early Renaissance sword quillons and later matchlock serpentines. In a superstitious medieval world, they were traditionally regarded as fencing off evil.

Some of them are from the world famous Notre Dame cathedral in Paris - remember the stunning 1939 movie The Hunchback of Notre Dame starring the unique Charles Laughton?

Michael

[ward]

what is the afghan afghan flint hammer doing mixed with the wheel lock pieces doing there. Just kidding noticed the afghan piece on the side of pic

[Matchlock]

Ward,

This combination hammer and screwdriver is not Afghan but Southern Italy, ca. 1550, and the predecessor of later Afghan items and is, of course, just part of my accouterments collection.

Michael

[ward]

Interesting. Would it be possible to see a full pic of that piece.

[Matchlock]

Here they are: the early Italian combined pin hammer, fire striker, pyrites hammer and screw driver, ca. 1550 (left), together with a simpler oriental form, probably Albania or Afghanistan, 18th-19th centuries.

The same decorative structure as on my mid 16th century Italian hammer is reflected by the world famous papal hammer, Rome, with which the the door of St. Peter's Cathedral was solemnly and ritualitstically opened in The Holy Year 1550. I attach a picture; please note that the wooden handle is a later replacement.

Michael