Artwork Page for Wheel-Lock Carbine from the Bodyguard of Wolf Dietrich von Raitenau, Archbishop of Salzburg (ruled 1587-1612)

Details / Information for Wheel-Lock Carbine from the Bodyguard of Wolf Dietrich von Raitenau, Archbishop of Salzburg (ruled 1587-1612)

Wheel-Lock Carbine from the Bodyguard of Wolf Dietrich von Raitenau, Archbishop of Salzburg (ruled 1587-1612)

c. 1590–1600
gunmaker

Georg Zellner

(Zell am Wallersee, active late 1500s–early 1600s)
Culture
Austria, Zell, 16th century
Medium
steel, wood (walnut) inlaid with staghorn
Credit Line
On Loan from the Collection of Justin Kohn and Family 55.2000
Copyright
Copyright
This artwork is known to be under copyright.
Location
210A Armor Court
Print
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Did You Know?

Raitenau had a fierce dispute with his neighbor Duke Maximilian I of Bavaria; he was eventually captured and imprisoned for life.

Description

At the beginning of the 1500s the handfire weapon began to change the face of European warfare. a new type of ignition system was invented: the wheel-lock, the first self-igniting mechanism for guns. This new technology was particularly attractive to rich nobleman who commissioned such guns for hunting. Gunmakers lavished all form of embellishment on these firearms: chiseling, engraving, and gilding of the metal parts as well as the use of rare woods for the stock and inlays of horn, bone, and ivory.
A wood carbine rests horizontally, its long steel barrel tapering toward the right. The dark brown body is intricately inlaid with bone scroll and leaf patterns, while a large oval medallion decorates the flared butt. At the center, a complex wheellock mechanism of gears and levers is exposed. Below, a metal guard and curved lever protrude from the stock. The barrel's surface is smooth gray, ending in a slightly flared muzzle.

Wheel-Lock Carbine from the Bodyguard of Wolf Dietrich von Raitenau, Archbishop of Salzburg (ruled 1587-1612)

c. 1590–1600

Georg Zellner

(Zell am Wallersee, active late 1500s–early 1600s)
Austria, Zell, 16th century

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