A matchlock chronology, ca. 1520 to 1720 - Page 2

David R · 12th March 2011, 11:21 PM

A wonderfull resource, thank you for your work and generosity sharing this.
This is the sort of stuff that is so hard to access, but so usefull.

Matchlock · 13th March 2011, 06:28 PM

Hi David R,

Just the fact that it is much appreciated is worth doing all that. It's my life work after all.

Best,
Michael

Matchlock · 15th March 2011, 02:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bolek

I want to thank you for a very good study topic. Here in Poland, your work is very important.
Thank you and best regards.

Bolek

Hi Bolek,

How about posting photos from Polish museums here, just like I do with Western museums?!

This would be a great adequate for what I am trying to do here and we all would greatly benefit from such contributions by German neighbors!

Best,
Michael

Matchlock · 15th March 2011, 03:41 AM

A recent acquisition for my collection:

A very rare and early matchlock mechanism, Northern Italy, ca. 1500. This one has no screws yet, its all rivets. The delicate serpentine has not yet a wingnut, and the sear and long bar trigger are wrought of one single piece. As I said: no screws or threads yet.

The piece of match cord is an original.

Length of the lock plate: 12.7 cm

Best,
Michael

Spiridonov · 15th March 2011, 11:46 PM

Michael, thank You so much for sharing of this locks and arquebuse with this lock. It is a very important find because I am sure that this lock is a similar type with lock of Martin Merz. It its brilliantly fact 'couse it is the firs lock of this type wich i have ever seen "in iron" .

Bolek · 16th March 2011, 06:20 PM

This is my reconstruction of which ,I completed a week ago

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hbHdsV16LdQ

Matchlock · 16th March 2011, 08:37 PM

Exactly, Alexander,

That illustration was the first thought that came into my mind when I spied that tiny mechanism at an auction about ten years ago. Somebody had used it to build a short 'matchlock gun' around it. Well, I bought the piece and threw the ridiculous barrel and stock in the trash can.

I doubt though that the Bavarian gun master Martin Merz, who lived and died in Amberg, made this drawing as early as 1475. That of course was the time when he started out with his draught book but he died only in 1501. I believe that he added this illustration to his notes at about the end of the 15th c.
Attached find images of his epitaph on the outer wall of the Amberg city parish church; please note his feet rested on a cannon barrel and the eye patch indicating that he lost his right eye in duty. Also note the early cannon and carriage in the armorial shield on the right below symbolizing his profession.

Btw, very similar lock plates nailed to haquebuts are depicted from the Weimar Ingenieurbuch, ca. 1500 - see following attachments. The exception, of course, is that these seem to be more advanced as the long lever triggers are already mounted inside. Either they were screwed into the sear or the drawing is inaccurate because there is no recess for the trigger cut in the stock.
On the other hand, the pans on these guns are not yet fitted with covers!
It's a really tricky and painful, let alone painstaking, topic dating these pieces ... grrrr

The reasons for my assumption are:

- there is no known record of a fully developed lock plate combining the complete mechanism parts before ca. 1500. The earliest document of such is Burgkmair's illustration of the triumphal march of the Emperor Maximilian I of ca. 1516. And - they still are nailed to the stocks of the arquebuses.
Even from as late as the 1520's there are hundreds of surviving Nuremberg made snap matchlock arquebuses preserved in the Pilsen Armory, Czechia, which are only equipped with a small bras plate bearing the serpentine whilst the rest of the mechanism is still nailed to the stock.

- the use of that 'modern' type of screws to fix the lock is not documented before the 1520's, at least to my knowledge; even then most locks were simply nailed to the stock.

- the earliest screw heads from about 1500 had no slits but formed a small ring (eye) to handle them or put some simple tool like a nail through the eye for fixing.
This earliest known form of lock retaining srcews is retained on a stocked haquebut in the famos Vienna Hapsburg Armory (one only, the other screw being a modern replacement) and the other two are in my collection. I posted them in an earlier thread and re-attach them.
The next step in lock retaining screws seems to have been an angled upper part of the screw to retain the mechanism, and next that angled part became a slit for a screwdriver.
The earliest known 'modern' screw heads can be found to retain the wheel-lock of the higly decorated combined crossbow gun, datable closely to ca. 1520 based on the inscription it bears, which is preserved in the Bavarian National Museum Munich - please cf. to my earlier thread.

- moreover, the pivot of the serpentine is not simply riveted as in my sample but is fixed to a pinion square by means of a pin, which doubtlessly is a quite advanced method that was still in use with matchlocks of ca. 1600!

- side-mounted pans already featuring a pivoted swiveling cover (!) like the one on Merz's drawing are not known before the end of the 15th c.

- the sliding clamp of the serpentine to fix the piece of tinder is pictured here for the first time ever and is found on surviving guns as late as the 1550's (!) in the Graz Armory. During the whole span of time between ca. 1500 and 1550, there is no proof of the simple means of clamp, which of course was the predecessor of the later wingnut (known in Italy as early as the 1520's) on matchlock serpentines.

Please note the broach or vent prick (Räumnadel) surspended on a delicate chain in front of the lock. Interesting enough, this useful piece of accouterment is not known to have survived on any actually existing Central or North European gun, but is retained on many of the better quality Oriental (esp. Indian and Turkish) 17th-19th c. matchlock guns.

Best,
Michael

fernando · 16th March 2011, 09:35 PM

Grrrrreat material, Michl.
Great knowledge

Oh, that picture with the XVI century screws

... immediately saved to my archives; who wouldn't ?

.

Spiridonov · 16th March 2011, 09:58 PM

Michael, this is awesome! Where did You get this high quality Martin's picture? Do You have all manuscript?

Matchlock · 16th March 2011, 11:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fernando

Grrrrreat material, Michl.
Great knowledge

Oh, that picture with the XVI century screws

... immediately saved to my archives; who wouldn't ?

.

Oh, 'Nando, 'Nando,

You are not gonna say you missed my former thread on the develoment of screws, are ya?!

http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showthread.php?t=7715

Matchlock · 16th March 2011, 11:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spiridonov

Michael, this is awesome! Where did You get this high quality Martin's picture? Do You have all manuscript?

Hi Alexander,

I did not save Martin's complete ms as there is very little stuff relevant to freaks like us contained. The codex is preserved in the Bavarian State Library Munich, cgm 598, but is, as I just checked, not available online at the moment.

Anyway, I sent you all the illustrations on guns etc. in there. Enjoy!

Best,
Michael

Bolek · 16th March 2011, 11:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Matchlock

Hi Bolek,

How about posting photos from Polish museums here, just like I do with Western museums?!

This would be a great adequate for what I am trying to do here and we all would greatly benefit from such contributions by German neighbors!

Best,
Michael

I live in the far provinces. I'm far from a museum. as I will next time in Polish museums to do photographic documentation.

greetings

Matchlock · 17th March 2011, 05:52 PM

Hi Bolek,

That would be great!

Thanks in advance,
Michael

fernando · 17th March 2011, 06:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Matchlock

Oh, 'Nando, 'Nando,

You are not gonna say you missed my former thread on the develoment of screws, are ya?!

http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showthread.php?t=7715

Dear me

Must say i have forgotten such one, as i haven't missed it for sure.
Wait till you get my age; senile symptoms can not be avoided

.
I have already substituted the screws picture for this more complete one.

Matchlock · 17th March 2011, 07:06 PM

'Nando, my dear friend,

As you know I'm not that far from your age and yet am experiencing those senile symptons at large.

Btw, let me know whenever you wish to receive any of my images; I mostly have hi-rez versions.

Best,
Michael

Spiridonov · 18th March 2011, 11:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Matchlock

Anyway, I sent you all the illustrations on guns etc. in there. Enjoy!

Thank You, Michael!

Matchlock · 18th March 2011, 06:25 PM

You are welcome any time, Alexander!

Best,
m

Matchlock · 25th September 2012, 07:23 PM

A matchlock mechanism for a Swedish military musket, 1620's; Armémuseum Stockholm.

For a treatise on matchcord, please see

http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showthread.php?t=15668

Best,
Michael

Marcus den toom · 5th July 2024, 08:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Matchlock

Tho two bigger ones from wall guns. The two photos taken in the Militärmuseum (Army museum) Dresden show the complete guns.

Michael

Very similar lock, sadly no provenance or current location (Cf post 3 in this thread)

12th March 2011, 11:21 PM	#31
David R Member Join Date: Jan 2011 Posts: 1,079	Thankyou A wonderfull resource, thank you for your work and generosity sharing this. This is the sort of stuff that is so hard to access, but so usefull.

15th March 2011, 03:41 AM	#34
Matchlock (deceased) Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Bavaria, Germany - the center of 15th and 16th century gunmaking Posts: 4,310	A recent acquisition for my collection: A very rare and early matchlock mechanism, Northern Italy, ca. 1500. This one has no screws yet, its all rivets. The delicate serpentine has not yet a wingnut, and the sear and long bar trigger are wrought of one single piece. As I said: no screws or threads yet. The piece of match cord is an original. Length of the lock plate: 12.7 cm Best, Michael Attached Images

15th March 2011, 11:46 PM	#35
Spiridonov Member Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Russia, Leningrad Posts: 355	Michael, thank You so much for sharing of this locks and arquebuse with this lock. It is a very important find because I am sure that this lock is a similar type with lock of Martin Merz. It its brilliantly fact 'couse it is the firs lock of this type wich i have ever seen "in iron" . Attached Images Last edited by Spiridonov; 16th March 2011 at 07:23 AM.

16th March 2011, 08:37 PM	#37
Matchlock (deceased) Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Bavaria, Germany - the center of 15th and 16th century gunmaking Posts: 4,310	Exactly, Alexander, That illustration was the first thought that came into my mind when I spied that tiny mechanism at an auction about ten years ago. Somebody had used it to build a short 'matchlock gun' around it. Well, I bought the piece and threw the ridiculous barrel and stock in the trash can. I doubt though that the Bavarian gun master Martin Merz, who lived and died in Amberg, made this drawing as early as 1475. That of course was the time when he started out with his draught book but he died only in 1501. I believe that he added this illustration to his notes at about the end of the 15th c. Attached find images of his epitaph on the outer wall of the Amberg city parish church; please note his feet rested on a cannon barrel and the eye patch indicating that he lost his right eye in duty. Also note the early cannon and carriage in the armorial shield on the right below symbolizing his profession. Btw, very similar lock plates nailed to haquebuts are depicted from the Weimar Ingenieurbuch, ca. 1500 - see following attachments. The exception, of course, is that these seem to be more advanced as the long lever triggers are already mounted inside. Either they were screwed into the sear or the drawing is inaccurate because there is no recess for the trigger cut in the stock. On the other hand, the pans on these guns are not yet fitted with covers! It's a really tricky and painful, let alone painstaking, topic dating these pieces ... grrrr The reasons for my assumption are: - there is no known record of a fully developed lock plate combining the complete mechanism parts before ca. 1500. The earliest document of such is Burgkmair's illustration of the triumphal march of the Emperor Maximilian I of ca. 1516. And - they still are nailed to the stocks of the arquebuses. Even from as late as the 1520's there are hundreds of surviving Nuremberg made snap matchlock arquebuses preserved in the Pilsen Armory, Czechia, which are only equipped with a small bras plate bearing the serpentine whilst the rest of the mechanism is still nailed to the stock. - the use of that 'modern' type of screws to fix the lock is not documented before the 1520's, at least to my knowledge; even then most locks were simply nailed to the stock. - the earliest screw heads from about 1500 had no slits but formed a small ring (eye) to handle them or put some simple tool like a nail through the eye for fixing. This earliest known form of lock retaining srcews is retained on a stocked haquebut in the famos Vienna Hapsburg Armory (one only, the other screw being a modern replacement) and the other two are in my collection. I posted them in an earlier thread and re-attach them. The next step in lock retaining screws seems to have been an angled upper part of the screw to retain the mechanism, and next that angled part became a slit for a screwdriver. The earliest known 'modern' screw heads can be found to retain the wheel-lock of the higly decorated combined crossbow gun, datable closely to ca. 1520 based on the inscription it bears, which is preserved in the Bavarian National Museum Munich - please cf. to my earlier thread. - moreover, the pivot of the serpentine is not simply riveted as in my sample but is fixed to a pinion square by means of a pin, which doubtlessly is a quite advanced method that was still in use with matchlocks of ca. 1600! - side-mounted pans already featuring a pivoted swiveling cover (!) like the one on Merz's drawing are not known before the end of the 15th c. - the sliding clamp of the serpentine to fix the piece of tinder is pictured here for the first time ever and is found on surviving guns as late as the 1550's (!) in the Graz Armory. During the whole span of time between ca. 1500 and 1550, there is no proof of the simple means of clamp, which of course was the predecessor of the later wingnut (known in Italy as early as the 1520's) on matchlock serpentines. Please note the broach or vent prick (Räumnadel) surspended on a delicate chain in front of the lock. Interesting enough, this useful piece of accouterment is not known to have survived on any actually existing Central or North European gun, but is retained on many of the better quality Oriental (esp. Indian and Turkish) 17th-19th c. matchlock guns. Best, Michael Attached Images Last edited by Matchlock; 17th March 2011 at 07:54 PM.

17th March 2011, 07:06 PM	#45
Matchlock (deceased) Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Bavaria, Germany - the center of 15th and 16th century gunmaking Posts: 4,310	'Nando, my dear friend, As you know I'm not that far from your age and yet am experiencing those senile symptons at large. Btw, let me know whenever you wish to receive any of my images; I mostly have hi-rez versions. Best, Michael Last edited by Matchlock; 17th March 2011 at 07:56 PM.

13th March 2011, 06:28 PM	#32
Matchlock (deceased) Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Bavaria, Germany - the center of 15th and 16th century gunmaking Posts: 4,310	Hi David R, Just the fact that it is much appreciated is worth doing all that. It's my life work after all. Best, Michael

16th March 2011, 06:20 PM	#36
Bolek Member Join Date: Dec 2010 Posts: 15	This is my reconstruction of which ,I completed a week ago http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hbHdsV16LdQ

16th March 2011, 09:35 PM	#38
fernando (deceased) Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Portugal Posts: 9,694	Grrrrreat material, Michl. Great knowledge Oh, that picture with the XVI century screws ... immediately saved to my archives; who wouldn't ? .

16th March 2011, 09:58 PM	#39
Spiridonov Member Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Russia, Leningrad Posts: 355	Michael, this is awesome! Where did You get this high quality Martin's picture? Do You have all manuscript?

17th March 2011, 05:52 PM	#43
Matchlock (deceased) Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Bavaria, Germany - the center of 15th and 16th century gunmaking Posts: 4,310	Hi Bolek, That would be great! Thanks in advance, Michael

18th March 2011, 06:25 PM	#47
Matchlock (deceased) Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Bavaria, Germany - the center of 15th and 16th century gunmaking Posts: 4,310	You are welcome any time, Alexander! Best, m

25th September 2012, 07:23 PM	#48
Matchlock (deceased) Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Bavaria, Germany - the center of 15th and 16th century gunmaking Posts: 4,310	A matchlock mechanism for a Swedish military musket, 1620's; Armémuseum Stockholm. For a treatise on matchcord, please see http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showthread.php?t=15668 Best, Michael Attached Images