15 century arquebuse

Philip · 1st March 2016, 07:24 AM

Hi, Marcus
Thanks for informing me about the appearance of barrel hooks, and for posting the images of the small gun with sear-matchlock in the Musee de l'Armee. I agree with you that a dating of 1470-1500 seems a bit early for something like that. If it had the more primitive serpentine lock, maybe so. Also possible that the barrel may be that early, but the present lock gives it the impression of further on in the 16th cent., as you suggest. The less corroded appearance of the lock (compared with the barrel) also supports the idea that it might well be later.

It can be difficult to assess pieces which have been re-stocked; in the case of early firearms like this, I'm sure you've encountered all too many in museums and collections. You can see a somewhat larger gun with a tiller-stock and a matchlock quite similar to the example you posted in the Historisches Museum, Bern (inv. no. 2206), but that example has a reconstructed stock as well. Of course, wood decays and over the years, owners and curators have had restorers replace the irreparable or totally missing stock with what is thought to be the proper style. It was no doubt done with good intentions, for who wants to look at something incomplete or almost falling apart? But unless the work was carefully documented, we today can have doubts as to whether the component parts were really together since their working life, or may have been associated centuries after-the-fact from disparate pieces in a depot. If the replacement stock is really based on a badly-deteriorated original, do we know if the restorer had enough original left to properly model all the details of his copy?

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1st March 2016, 07:24 AM	#8
Philip Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: California Posts: 1,036	Hi, Marcus Thanks for informing me about the appearance of barrel hooks, and for posting the images of the small gun with sear-matchlock in the Musee de l'Armee. I agree with you that a dating of 1470-1500 seems a bit early for something like that. If it had the more primitive serpentine lock, maybe so. Also possible that the barrel may be that early, but the present lock gives it the impression of further on in the 16th cent., as you suggest. The less corroded appearance of the lock (compared with the barrel) also supports the idea that it might well be later. It can be difficult to assess pieces which have been re-stocked; in the case of early firearms like this, I'm sure you've encountered all too many in museums and collections. You can see a somewhat larger gun with a tiller-stock and a matchlock quite similar to the example you posted in the Historisches Museum, Bern (inv. no. 2206), but that example has a reconstructed stock as well. Of course, wood decays and over the years, owners and curators have had restorers replace the irreparable or totally missing stock with what is thought to be the proper style. It was no doubt done with good intentions, for who wants to look at something incomplete or almost falling apart? But unless the work was carefully documented, we today can have doubts as to whether the component parts were really together since their working life, or may have been associated centuries after-the-fact from disparate pieces in a depot. If the replacement stock is really based on a badly-deteriorated original, do we know if the restorer had enough original left to properly model all the details of his copy?