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Flintlock Fowling Piece

ca. 1778 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Walnut stock inlaid with silver wire scrollwork, the mounts of blued steel encrusted with sprays of roses in gold. The lock is signed in cyrillic characters 'A. Leontiew' inlaid with gold, the rear of the lockplate is chiselled with trophies of arms, the barrel chiselled and gilt at the breech with Hercules fighting the Hydra against a punctate gilt ground, and towards the muzzle with a composition of foliated scrolls enclosing grotesque masks.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Materials and techniques
Walnut with silver wire inlay, steel, partly blued and encrusted with gold
Brief description
Flintlock fowling piece, by Archip Leontiev, Russia (Tula), ca. 1778
Physical description
Walnut stock inlaid with silver wire scrollwork, the mounts of blued steel encrusted with sprays of roses in gold. The lock is signed in cyrillic characters 'A. Leontiew' inlaid with gold, the rear of the lockplate is chiselled with trophies of arms, the barrel chiselled and gilt at the breech with Hercules fighting the Hydra against a punctate gilt ground, and towards the muzzle with a composition of foliated scrolls enclosing grotesque masks.
Dimensions
  • Length: 137.6cm
Marks and inscriptions
'A. Leontiew' (Lock signed in cyrillic characters inlaid with gold)
Object history
From the armoury of the earls of Pembroke, Wilton House, Salisbury. This appears to be the one acquired by Lord George Augustus Herbert (1759-1827) later 11th Earl, who in the course of his Grand Tour travelled to Russia between August 1778 and February 1779, when he is known to have sent a gun back to England.

Tula, a hundred miles south of Moscow, was originally the centre of the Russian ordinance industry but under Catherine the Great's patronage diversified into the production of a wide range of forged and chiselled courtly arms and other decorative arts from snuff boxes to furniture.
Historical context
Arms and armour are often dissociated 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 and were presented as gifts to honour ambassadors and other dignitaries.

Firearms combined virtuoso craftsmanship with high quality engineering. This gun is fitted with a flintlock firing mechanism. Flintlock guns largely superseded wheel-lock guns by the late 17th century. The flintlock's invention is credited to Marin Le Bourgeois, gunmaker to Louis XIII of France, in around 1610.

The flintlock was less complicated and more reliable than a wheel-lock. Its simplicity encouraged the development o fsmaller, lighter guns. Flintlocks could fire accurately for up to 100 metres. Their increasing accuracy encouraged wars to be fought at longer range.

Some flintlocks had spirally grooved or rifled barrels improving their accuracy and range. Flintlock guns with rifled barrels needed more cleaning and took longer to load. They were more commonly used in hunting than on the battlefield where guns were fired quickly in volleys.

Flintlocks in Operation

The flintlock was fired when the flint held in the cock, struck the steel pan (frizzen) opposite, causing sparks to ignite the priming powder. A detailed description of loading and firing a flintlock gun follows:

Most flintlock guns were loaded from the muzzle with gunpowder and lead shot. These are pushed into the breech of the barrel with the ramrod. The ramrod is stored in a slot beneath the barrel.

An arm, or cock, at the back of the lock holds a sharp piece of flint. This is moved part of the way backwards until it clicks into position at half-cock. It has a safety catch to prevent the gun being fired accidentally.

On top of the lock is a flash pan which is charged with priming powder, a fine powder that ignites easily. The flash pan is opened by lifting the cover, called a frizzen. When the flash pan is filled with a measured dose of priming powder, the frizzen is then closed presenting a pan-shaped steel surface towards the cocked flint.

The cock is pulled back further, from half-cock to full-cock, releasing its safetly catch. When the trigger is pulled, the cock holding the flint springs forwards. The flint strikes the frizzen, opening it to reveal the priming powder, and causing sparks to fly when it strikes the hard steel surface. The sparks ignite the priming powder in the flash pan. The flash passes through a vent or touchhole into the breech of the barrel and ignites the main powder charge, and the gun fires.
Subjects depicted
Bibliographic reference
Hayward, J. F., European Firearms, HMSO, London, 1969, cat. 83
Collection
Accession number
M.3-1961

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Record createdMarch 17, 2004
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