The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 22, 2025

Tschinki (Wheel-Lock Hunting Rifle)

c. 1630–50

Poland, Silesia, 17th century

steel with traces gilding; walnut stock inlaid with bone, stag horn, mother-of-pearl
Overall: 122.9 cm (48 3/8 in.); Butt: 9.6 cm (3 3/4 in.); Barrel: 94.9 cm (37 3/8 in.); Bore: 1.3 cm (1/2 in.)
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. John L. Severance 1916.1782
Location: 210A Armor Court

Did You Know?

At over four feet long, this rifle's scale is only outdone by the fine details of the gilding and inlaid precious materials. This weapon is known for the region in which it was made and popularized.

Description

This type of hunting gun owes its name to the town of Teschen in Silesia (now southern Poland) which, as early as 1580, was already associated with a particular type of gun. The precise date of the invention of the Tschinke is unknown, though a dated example of 1610 survives in the Imperial Armouries in Vienna.
  • Hollingworth Magniac (1786-1867), Bedfordshire, England
    -1916
    Frank Gair Macomber (1849-1941), Boston, MA, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art
    1916-
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Catalogue of Arms and Armour. [Boston, Massachusetts]: [Frank Gair Macomber], 1900. cat. #282 archive.org
    Gilchrist, Helen Ives. A Catalogue of the Collection of Arms & Armor Presented to the Cleveland Museum of Art by Mr. and Mrs. John Long Severance; 1916-1923. Cleveland: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1924. Mentioned: p. 147-148, F12; Reproduced: Plate XXXV, F12 archive.org
    Cleveland Museum of Art, and Helen Ives Gilchrist. Handbook of the Severance Collection of Arms and Armor. 2d ed., 1948. Reproduction: p. 42 archive.org
    Fliegel, Stephen N. Arms and Armor: The Cleveland Museum of Art. [Cleveland, Ohio]: The Museum, 1998. pp. 143, 174; cat. no. 221
    Fliegel, Stephen N. Arms & Armor: The Cleveland Museum of Art. [Cleveland, Ohio]: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2007. cat. no. 228, p. 194
  • Armor Court Reinstallation. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer).
  • {{cite web|title=Tschinki (Wheel-Lock Hunting Rifle)|url=false|author=|year=c. 1630–50|access-date=22 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1916.1782