Physical description
Taken from J.F. Hayward, European Firearms (London 1969), cat. 94
The walnut stock is finely carved with foliage and with Rococo scrollwork, and inlaid with panels of chased or engraved silver. The remaining surface of the stock is inlaid with silver wire scrollwork within which are inlaid naturalistic flowers, executed in cut and engraved silver. The silver panels inlaid in the stock represent, on the left-hand side, a figure of Minerva (or perhaps Britannia) surrounded by trophies of arms and abundance, above her flies Mercury. On the right-hand side, a lion and an eagle, the latter symbolising Jupiter. The panels on the forestock are engraved with cherubs and trophies of arms.
In the buttplate is a silver trap which, when opened, gives access to the pump. This operates in a cylindrical cavity bored through the butt. The silver mounts are finely chased, the sideplate pierced and chased with a seated figure of a winged divinity with two cherubs symbolic of the winds surrounded by military trophies.
The trigger guard is chased with a recumbant lion under a baldachin supported by a male and a female term, and on the loop, with a figure of Minerva (or Britannia) accompanied by trophies of arms within Rococo scrolls, the thumbplate with a putti and military trophies, the buttplate with a scene of citizens handing over the keys of a city, in the backgound, combating warriors.
The two upper ramrod pipes are later and inferior restorations.
The lock is chiselled against a granulated gilt ground, the cock with Jupiter brandishing the Fulmen, the plate with scrollwork and military trophies. It is signed 'Kolbe' and is of normal flintlock construction. When the sear is released, the tumbler turns and forces down a lever which in turn opens the valve of the compressed air cylinder.
The gun barrel is brass, and covered at the breech by a sliver sleeve, chased with a figure of Mars amongst trophies of arms. The barrel is signed 'Kolbe Fecit Londini'. The actual barrel is contained within a brass cylinder which serves as the compressed air container. There is a backsight and foresight, the latter formed as a grotesque mask.
Place of Origin
London, England (made)
Date
1735-1740 (made)
Artist/maker
Kolbe, Johann Gottfried (maker)
Materials and Techniques
Carved walnut with chased and engraved silver, brass
Marks and inscriptions
'Kolbe'
Signed 'Kolbe Fecit Londini'
Dimensions
Length: 137 cm, Width: 26 cm, Depth: 9 cm
Object history note
From the collection of Alexander Davison. When sold in 1817, this gun was described as having been 'formerly in the possession of George II', though if this was the case it is surprising that the escutcheon should have been left blank.
The gun is signed by Johann Gottfried Kolbe, a gunmaker from Suhl in eastern Germany. Kolbe was the son of Johann Christoph Kolbe, an engraver, and produced a number of delicately chiselled and engraved airguns, some disguised as walking-sticks. He is known to have worked in London during the 1730s.
Among the triumphalist trophies chased on lock, stock and barrel are allegorical figures open to interpretation. The butt-plate shows a town surrendering its keys. On the left of the stock, Mercury flies above a figure of Minerva. On the right, sitting next to a lion and holding laurels and palms is an eagle from whose beak darts a bolt of lighting, an attribute of Jupiter. Both turn to face a wilting lily. It is possible the group celebrates the alliance of Prussia and Britain against France during the War of the Austrian Succession (1740-48) and that Minerva may symbolise Britannia. In 1743 George II led a British and Prussian army successfully against France at the Battle of Dettingen, the last time a British monarch led troops into battle.
Some of the silver mounts may derive from the designs published early in the eighteenth century by De Lacollombe and expanded as 'Nouveaux Desseins d'Arquebuserie' by his pupil Gilles de Marteau in 1730 and 1743. The page of designs from which the rococo cartouche on the stock is taken is dated 1743, the same year as Dettingen. Should this link be correct it suggests Kolbe was still in London in the early 1740s.
The gun appears to have a standard flintlock. However, in the buttplate is a hatch giving access to a pump. Between the barrel and its outer brass sleeve an air reservoir had to be filled with compressed air to act as the propellant. One charge of air supplied a number of shots.
Historical significance: When sold in 1817, this gun was described as having been 'formerly in the possession of George II'.
Historical context note
A treatise of 1711 claimed princes should hunt as a means of 'displaying their power all over by showing their splendour and magnificence.' The beauty of the carved walnut stock, chased silver mounts and inlaid silver wirework on this airgun made it fit for a king. When it was sold in 1817 its sale catalogue listed it as 'formerly in the possession of George II'.
18th-century air guns used compressed air as a propellant. In the buttplate of this gun is a silver hatch giving access to a pump. This operated in a cylindrical cavity bored through the butt. The metal reservoir had to be pumped full of air before the gun would fire. A spring mechanism opened and closed a valve to release the air. This example, like many others of the period is fitted with a flintlock, possibly to make the gun look like an ordinary firearm.
Air guns were possibly late medieval in origin although the earliest to survive dates from 1644 and is in the armoury in Stockholm. They were largely used for hunting and target shooting.
Airguns had advantages over other firearms for hunting. The mechanism needed less protection from the weather and misfires were rare. There was also no puff of smoke or loud bang to give the game away enabling a second shot if the first missed. Landgrave Ludwig VIII of Hesse was a keen proponent, owning twelve airguns with which, in 1749, he shot over a hundred wild boar. While the absence of gunpowder removed one danger from guns, fatalities might occur when too much air pumped into the reservoir caused an explosion.
Descriptive line
Air gun disguised as a flintlock, possibly made for George II, by J Kolbe, English (London), ca. 1735-40
Bibliographic References (Citation, Note/Abstract, NAL no)
Hayward, J. F., European Firearms. London : HMSO, 1969, cat. 94
A guide to the Museum Collection of firearms first published in 1955. This edition includes a large number of illustrations and a complete text revision. The items described have been selected on the grounds of artistic merit and technical or historical interest.
Claude Blair, European and American Arms, c.1100-1850, Batsford, London, 1962, p. 66 and fig. 526
Hayward, J.F., The Art of the Gunmaker, Volume 2, Europe and America 1660-1830, Barrie and Rockliff, London, 1963, pp. 81-2, 203, 330 pl. 24 ill.
Patterson, Angus, "Power and Glory", Chapter, Medlam, Sarah, and Miller, Lesley Ellis, Princely Treasures: European Masterpieces 1600-1800 from the Victoria and Albert Museum, V&A Publishing, London, 2011, pp. 56-57
Exhibition History
Princely Treasures: European Masterpieces 1600-1800 from the V&A (National Museum of Korea (Seoul) 02/05/2011-28/08/2011)
Materials
Silver; Brass; Walnut
Techniques
Carving; Chasing
Subjects depicted
Britannia; Minerva; Mercury; Jupiter; Mars
Categories
Metalwork; Tools & Equipment; Arms & Armour; Firearms
Collection code
MET
