Earliest Arquebusier's and Musketeer's Trapezoidal Powder Flasks, ca. 1530-1590

Matchlock · 18th June 2012, 08:28 PM

I post this as most of these flasks, of which many are still around indeed, are commonly dated 'ca. 1600' to '17th c'.

Actually, these instances of period artwork prove that they were in use from at least ca. 1530; I cannot remember any illustrative source picturing a trapezoidal flask after ca. 1600.

We may therefore assume that both their manufacture and employment had generally stopped by the early 17th c.

As bandoliers equipped with ready-to-use powder measures are known to have been in use from at least ca. 1500 until the second half of the 17th c., it seems probable that, in a group of arquebusiers/musketeers, only very few members actually carried an additional large powder flask to provide bandolier refills when needed.

As these samples illustrate, the wooden body of the earliest of these flasks was sometimes covered with interwoven, even maybe embroidered, textiles to match the stock of the accompanying arquebuses which was decorated en suite.
Two of these matchlock arquebuses with velvet-covered stocks, of ca. 1540, are preserved in the Hofburg Museum in Vienna (traditionally just called the 'Wiener Waffensammlung').

The largest number of surviving examples with textile-covered body is preserved in the Graz armory; close examinations proved that their textiles actually were reused Gothic chasubles!

Please note that 16th c. triangular flasks are often depicted to be carried on the back by the arquebusier/musketeer!

Attachments, from top:

- 1529, from a painting by Ruprecht Heller, The Battle of Pavia, which took place in 1525 (2)

- 1554, The Battle of Marciano (2)

- ca. 1550, Jacob Binck (1)

- ca. 1560, Franz Brun (1), very similar to the foregoing

- ca. 1565-70, Stradanus, Medici Court painter (2)

- ca. 1585, Hendrick Goltzius (2)

- ca. 1590, Jacob de Gheyn (1)

- two arquebuses with textile-covered stock (the velvet now mostly rubbed, with only the remaining), ca. 1540, Vienna Waffensammlung (1)

For more on such flasks, please see

http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showth...s+powder+flask

http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showth...s+powder+flask

Best,
Michael

18th June 2012, 08:28 PM	#1
Matchlock (deceased) Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Bavaria, Germany - the center of 15th and 16th century gunmaking Posts: 4,310	Earliest Arquebusier's and Musketeer's Trapezoidal Powder Flasks, ca. 1530-1590 I post this as most of these flasks, of which many are still around indeed, are commonly dated 'ca. 1600' to '17th c'. Actually, these instances of period artwork prove that they were in use from at least ca. 1530; I cannot remember any illustrative source picturing a trapezoidal flask after ca. 1600. We may therefore assume that both their manufacture and employment had generally stopped by the early 17th c. As bandoliers equipped with ready-to-use powder measures are known to have been in use from at least ca. 1500 until the second half of the 17th c., it seems probable that, in a group of arquebusiers/musketeers, only very few members actually carried an additional large powder flask to provide bandolier refills when needed. As these samples illustrate, the wooden body of the earliest of these flasks was sometimes covered with interwoven, even maybe embroidered, textiles to match the stock of the accompanying arquebuses which was decorated en suite. Two of these matchlock arquebuses with velvet-covered stocks, of ca. 1540, are preserved in the Hofburg Museum in Vienna (traditionally just called the 'Wiener Waffensammlung'). The largest number of surviving examples with textile-covered body is preserved in the Graz armory; close examinations proved that their textiles actually were reused Gothic chasubles! Please note that 16th c. triangular flasks are often depicted to be carried on the back by the arquebusier/musketeer! Attachments, from top: - 1529, from a painting by Ruprecht Heller, The Battle of Pavia, which took place in 1525 (2) - 1554, The Battle of Marciano (2) - ca. 1550, Jacob Binck (1) - ca. 1560, Franz Brun (1), very similar to the foregoing - ca. 1565-70, Stradanus, Medici Court painter (2) - ca. 1585, Hendrick Goltzius (2) - ca. 1590, Jacob de Gheyn (1) - two arquebuses with textile-covered stock (the velvet now mostly rubbed, with only the remaining), ca. 1540, Vienna Waffensammlung (1) For more on such flasks, please see http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showth...s+powder+flask http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showth...s+powder+flask Best, Michael Attached Images Last edited by Matchlock; 19th June 2012 at 12:02 AM.