Wheel lock rifle (Tschinke), Silesia (Teschen), mid 17th century.

The walnut stock is inlaid with engraved stag-horn and mother-of-pearl. On the cheek piece an escutcheon with the arms of a Prince of Liechtenstein, probably Karl Eusebius (1611-1684).

The lock has an external mainspring decorated with punched work, originally blued and gilt. The octagonal barrel is rifled with eight grooves and decorated with three gilt panels of punched foliage. The backsight is enclosed within a tube.

Ex Bernal Collection

Lightweight rifles like this were used for shooting at sitting birds. They were produced in large numbers in the 17th century by a group of masters working in the town of Teschen on the borders of Poland and the former Czechoslovakia. They are represented, often in large numbers, in the German hereditary armouries. The same type of rather coarse horn and mother-of-pearl inlay is found on wheel-lock rifles and flintlock pistols made in the same locality. (V. Karger; 'Neue Teschner Beiträge zur Herkunftsfrage der Teschinken', Zetschrift für historische Waffen und Kostumkunde, 1964, p.29)

Arms and armour are rarely associated with art. However, they were influenced by the same design sources as other art forms including architecture, sculpture, goldsmiths' work, stained glass and ceramics. These sources had to be adapted to awkwardly shaped devices required to perform complicated technical functions. Armour and weapons were collected as works of art as much as military tools.

This wheel-lock rifle has a mechanism that enabled it to be carried loaded. The jaws of the lock clamped a piece of flint or a piece or pyrites designed to rub against the rough edge of the wheel projecting into the pan. The wheel was revolved at speed by a tightly coiled spring, wound by a separate spanner, and released when the gun's trigger was pulled causing sparks to ignite the gunpowder in the breech.

Sketches for wheel-locks were made by Leonardo da Vinci but their first common use was in Germany in around 1520 and they continued in use until the late seventeenth century. They were the first devices to fire guns mechanically and accelerated the development of firearms by negating the need for long and dangerous 'match' cords which had to be kept dry.

As technical devices wheel-lock guns attracted princely collectors. Many are finely chiselled and engraved as works of art, some even on their insides, to be taken apart and reassembled at pleasure. The stocks were also often decorated with fine bone and horn inlays drawing on the skills of furniture makers and engravers. Wheel-lock guns were expensive, however, and most ordinary gunners were equipped with the older style match-locks until well into the seventeenth century.

Made in Teschen, Silesia (historic regions)

Arms and armour are rarely associated with art. However, they were influenced by the same design sources as other art forms including architecture, sculpture, goldsmiths' work, stained glass and ceramics. These sources had to be adapted to awkwardly shaped devices required to perform complicated technical functions. Armour and weapons were collected as works of art as much as military tools.

This wheel-lock rifle has a mechanism that enabled it to be carried loaded. The jaws of the lock clamped a piece of flint or a piece or pyrites designed to rub against the rough edge of the wheel projecting into the pan. The wheel was revolved at speed by a tightly coiled spring, wound by a separate spanner, and released when the gun's trigger was pulled causing sparks to ignite the gunpowder in the breech.

Sketches for wheel-locks were made by Leonardo da Vinci but their first common use was in Germany in around 1520 and they continued in use until the late seventeenth century. They were the first devices to fire guns mechanically and accelerated the development of firearms by negating the need for long and dangerous 'match' cords which had to be kept dry.

As technical devices wheel-lock guns attracted princely collectors. Many are finely chiselled and engraved as works of art, some even on their insides, to be taken apart and reassembled at pleasure. The stocks were also often decorated with fine bone and horn inlays drawing on the skills of furniture makers and engravers. Wheel-lock guns were expensive, however, and most ordinary gunners were equipped with the older style match-locks until well into the seventeenth century.

2217-1855