A Very Rare Nuremberg Arquebus 'Bronze'/Brass Barrel, ca. 1500-10

Matchlock · 13th April 2012, 10:09 PM

Thanks again!

Up to now all I had of this was a 30 year-old old post card, not bad, just a bit dark. Anyway, I posted it in an earlier thread here.

Now we even recognize the bluing on the iron parts, the blued iron ramrod finial and both the right-hand serpentine and the figured back sight (both close ups attached).

The fact that the stock is painted red is by no means coincidental. As I remarked several times before, the basic Gothic colors were red and green. This of course does not mean that all period works of art actually showed these basic colors; they were typical and 'ideal' of the 15th/early 16th c. 'feeling for art' - and therefore preferred by artisans who were required to represent the 'ideal' Late Gothic taste to their contemporaries.

Also attached are a general view of the Kalkar altar piece and two self portraits of the artist Jan Joest, who was born ca. 1455 and died after 1519.

Apart from a left-hand stocked arquebus in the Vienna Imperial collection (the lock mechanism parts poor reconstructions), and a highly interesting piece formerly in the Renwick collection, the stock painted with the coat-of-arms of the Emperor Maximilian I when still king (1500-07), its present whereabouts unknown since the 1980's, no similar complete small arquebuses of that type are known to me. The latter two feature brass barrels and snap tinder locks while the Jan Joest arquebus is equipped with a wrought-iron barrel.

Best,
Michael

13th April 2012, 10:09 PM	#9
Matchlock (deceased) Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Bavaria, Germany - the center of 15th and 16th century gunmaking Posts: 4,310	Thanks again! Up to now all I had of this was a 30 year-old old post card, not bad, just a bit dark. Anyway, I posted it in an earlier thread here. Now we even recognize the bluing on the iron parts, the blued iron ramrod finial and both the right-hand serpentine and the figured back sight (both close ups attached). The fact that the stock is painted red is by no means coincidental. As I remarked several times before, the basic Gothic colors were red and green. This of course does not mean that all period works of art actually showed these basic colors; they were typical and 'ideal' of the 15th/early 16th c. 'feeling for art' - and therefore preferred by artisans who were required to represent the 'ideal' Late Gothic taste to their contemporaries. Also attached are a general view of the Kalkar altar piece and two self portraits of the artist Jan Joest, who was born ca. 1455 and died after 1519. Apart from a left-hand stocked arquebus in the Vienna Imperial collection (the lock mechanism parts poor reconstructions), and a highly interesting piece formerly in the Renwick collection, the stock painted with the coat-of-arms of the Emperor Maximilian I when still king (1500-07), its present whereabouts unknown since the 1980's, no similar complete small arquebuses of that type are known to me. The latter two feature brass barrels and snap tinder locks while the Jan Joest arquebus is equipped with a wrought-iron barrel. Best, Michael Attached Images Last edited by Matchlock; 14th April 2012 at 01:12 AM.