a seventeenth century matchlock ?

[cornelistromp]

Hi RAF,

well , the time span is exactly right between 1634-1637 there was a tulip buying anger with ridiculously high prices that were paid for it in the Netherlands.

I have also dated the musket with Dutch decoration in previous posts between 1630-1640.

some facts about the Tulp(en)manie;
In January 1637 tulip bulbs were sold for more than ten times the annual salary of a skilled craftsman, and they were about as much worth as an Amsterdam canal house. this was of course absolutely ridiculous, but did happen.

this situation in 1637 was quite similar to the banking crisis we just had/have now, a huge bubble that collapses.

The inlay on muskets that were used in Netherlands had often symbolism in the images.
see for example the oranges on musket from post 2, these represent the royal house of Orange (oranje Nassau) from the 16th century until now.
further oranges were like tulips a very expensive status product in the netherlands, William of Orange (WIII) every winter had his orange trees by his gardeners put inside where the temperature was right.

best,
Jasper