A flintlock pistol ... with a Portuguese lock.

[fernando]

Hi guys,
I am extremely glad with this piece. This time there are no usual ambiguities with its origin, whether Spanish or Portuguese, needing the term 'peninsular' for a definition be possible.
It is marked and signed by a famed Portuguese master, BARTHOLOMEU GOMES, who used to have his own workshop in Lisbon, before being called to due service in the Royal Arsenals in 1762, due to the post-Restoration war campaign, together with several other masters and aid smiths.
We can clearly see on the frizzen his name and the date 1781, following the initials Lxa for Lisboa.
The lock plate is marked with his personal 'coat of arms', containing his name.
This is a huge pistol, measuring 52 cms (20 1/2") and weighing almost 1,5 Kg (3,2 pounds).
There are still traces of golden florals on the barrel.
Its 'patilha' lock functions perfectly.
Anyone care to coment?
Thanks
Fernando

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[Dmitry]

That is mighty early for a captive ramrod. I was under the impression they became popular closer to the end of 18th century, than to the middle.

[celtan]

Beautiful acquisition, Nando.

I agree with Dimitri, it has to be one of the first guns to have been fitted with a captive ramrod. Congrats!

M


Hi guys,
I am extremely glad with this piece. This time there are no usual ambiguities with its origin, whether Spanish or Portuguese, needing the term 'peninsular' for a definition be possible.
It is marked and signed by a famed Portuguese master, BARTHOLOMEU GOMES, who used to have his own workshop in Lisbon, before being called to due service in the Royal Arsenals in 1762, due to the post-Restoration war campaign, together with several other masters and aid smiths.
We can clearly see on the frizzen his name and the date 1781, following the initials Lxa for Lisboa.
The lock plate is marked with his personal 'coat of arms', containing his name.
This is a huge pistol, measuring 52 cms (20 1/2") and weighing almost 1,5 Kg (3,2 pounds).
There are still traces of golden florals on the barrel.
Its 'patilha' lock functions perfectly.
Anyone care to coment?
Thanks
Fernando

.

[fernando]

That is mighty early for a captive ramrod. I was under the impression they became popular closer to the end of 18th century, than to the middle.

Thank you for your remark :rolleyes: .
It is however not impossible that the swivel was a later addition :shrug: .
Fernando

[fernando]

Hi Nelinho,

Beautiful acquisition, Nando.
I agree with Dimitri, it has to be one of the first guns to have been fitted with a captive ramrod. Congrats!
M

Muchas gracias :) .
As i say, the swivel could have been a later improvement; but if it were, was a professional work.
Nando

[Dmitry]

I don't know anything about Portuguese firearms. Was this a regulation pistol?

[fernando]

I don't know anything about Portuguese firearms. Was this a regulation pistol?

Regulation means what it says: regulation. In the context, the rules for weapons uniformization ... be them Portuguese or other.
This is when rules are issued to describe the (new) military patterns to be used, whether the weapons are made at the arsenals or when soldiers (officers) are supposed to acquire their own pieces in private workshops, all obliged to follow the same design and basic characteristics.
Consequently a pistol or a sword being a pattern of a determined date, potentially obbeys to the regulation of the same date.
In some cases, officers could have their swords made with the regulation hilt design and use the blades of their ancestors, for honour or sentimental reasons, as long as those (blades) did comply globaly with the regulation measurements.
Also some high rank officers used to be recorded with pistols of a model not complying with the current regulation, whether because they (pistols) had a better performance or simply for show off. But you know all that, of course.
Fernando

[fernando]

That is mighty early for a captive ramrod. I was under the impression they became popular closer to the end of 18th century, than to the middle.
It appears that the captive ramrod (officially) appeared by the 1800's.
Most possibly this pistol 'was called' to service by the time of Napoleonic invasions and, following the contemporary Britsh use, had the ramrod swivel applied; and maybe also the lanyard ring extracted.
Many things happen during many weapon's history.
Fernando

[Dmitry]

Regulation means what it says: regulation.

Thank you. I did not know that.

If this was a regulation piece, it should be easy to research. Lack of decoration on the stock suggests that it could've been an issue weapon, in which case you should see similar examples.
The lack or a band securing the barrel to the fore-end of the stock is also unusual, but I don't know anything about Portuguese firearms...

[fernando]

Thank you. I did not know that ...
Don't take it wrong; i was referring to the connotation of the term, in its idiomatic expression.

... If this was a regulation piece, it should be easy to research...
I don't think this is a regulation piece; this assuming that pistols were already a regulated weapon in Portugal by 1781 (i intend to check that).
However and despite Master Bartholomeu has been attached to the Royal Arsenals, it wouldn't mean that he ceased making pistols for private use; he might even already be dismissed from the Arsenal by that date. Besides, if this were an issue weapon, i'd say he would mark it with reference to the Royal Arsenal, and not just to Lisbon.

... Lack of decoration on the stock suggests that it could've been an issue weapon, in which case you should see similar examples. ...
The stock is not decorated, but the barrel is. OTOH, these items are very scarce, easier to find in private collectors hands and not exhibited out there, i'm afraid.

... The lack or a band securing the barrel to the fore-end of the stock is also unusual ...
Not really unusual; if you have a look to this period holster pistols in general, namely British, as large as may be, you will notice that the significant majority don't have a barrel band, as they are secured by pins or wedges to fore-end hooks.

... but I don't know anything about Portuguese firearms...
You're not alone; my knowledge of Portuguese firearms is the same as about those from other countries: barely residual. But i love to learn.

Fernando

[fernando]

It appears that the captive ramrod (officially) appeared by the 1800's.
Most possibly this pistol 'was called' to service by the time of Napoleonic invasions and, following the contemporary Britsh use, had the ramrod swivel applied; and maybe also the lanyard ring extracted.
Many things happen during many weapon's history.
Fernando

In a second thought, the lanyard ring wouldn't have been extracted but, instead, had its 'nipple' added to the butt same time as the ramrod swivel.
Fernando

[fernando]

By the time i acquired this pistol i knew nothing about these things (still i don't) and my ignorance persuated to believe and state most of the above posted nonsense. I would say most, as obviously what concerns the lock and his well know smith master are a straight fact.
As for the rest, i regret tat i failed to revisit this thread and correct a few vital details, as learnt a couple months later from someone more qualified to have an opinion on these items. So quoting the man:
To start with, the stock is a late clumsy work. The barrel is typical of Liege 1740-1750; the ranmrod swivel a later addition. The brass butt cap would be Spanish. The 18th. century trigger guard typically Poruguese, but had its width trimmed, as was originally from a shoulder gun. Eventually the Portuguese lock was also the model for a musket.
And the more bombastic assessment was that the barrel, originally for a flint lock, was once modified to a percussion version and ... later converted back to serve again a flint lock. Go figure how this is plausible, and what knowledge needs an expert to notice these details, just by looking at a pistol.
In any case i could not go without reposition the truth, even this late; more important to assume what this pistol is not, than not necessarily what it is.

[Pukka Bundook]

Fernando,

It is still a wonderful piece, with a Fantastic and very robust lock.

These locks hold me in awe. So very strong and sure.

Best wishes,
Richard.

[fernando]

Thank you Richard :cool: .

[kronckew]

british sea service pistols frequently had belt hooks, might this be a naval pistol?

[corrado26]

It appears that the captive ramrod (officially) appeared by the 1800's.



The earliest regulation pistol with a captive ramrod I know is the cavalry pistol M 1789 of Saxony
corrado26

[fernando]

british sea service pistols frequently had belt hooks, might this be a naval pistol?
Belt hooks used to abound in the Peninsula; not necessarily naval ... at all.
I have (and had) several examples in my little collection, monuted in the most diverse gun types.

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[rickystl]

Hi Fernando.

Well, it's still a good looking pistol. Especially that wonderful lock !!
Had I seen this pistol, even if I had known the correct analysis above, if the price was reasonable, I would have bought it anyway just to get the lock for my lock collection. LOL :D The brass hardware I would keep for a later unforseen project. LOL :rolleyes: But that's just me. Again, very cool lock.

While belt hooks were used on pistols all over Europe, they did seem to be especially popular on the Peninsula, as you mention. You see them on pistols and carbine length long guns both military and civilian of all types.

Again, really nice lock on that pistol.

Rick

[fernando]

Thank you for words Rick.
Indeed the lock is the great asset. Made by a master recognized by local arms historians. According to the Viscount de Villarinho de São Romão (1835), it was Bartholomeu Gomes "who gave the greatest enlightening in musketry".
Price, considering the lock, was not bad ... but not too good either; swapped with a French 1777 musket.
Concerning belt hooks, you know i could almost swear i saw them mounted in full size shoulder guns ?. And by the way, take a look at the 6th picture in post #17; a part of a Spanish luxury hunting escopeta. Istn't that the hole for a belt hook ? :o


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[Oliver Pinchot]

Congratulations, Fernando!
Certainly an important addition to your collection and
a benefit to the Forum

[fernando]

Thank you so much, Oliver.

[rickystl]

Hi Fernando.

Frames 6 and 7 do indeed look like there were belt hooks attached at some point.
I don't recall seeing any belt hooks on full-size shoulder muskets. And there would be no need for one since the heavy muskets were equiped with shoulder slings. The only regulation belt hook I can recall was on the Spanish Light Weight Military Escopeda. And they were longer than the hooks for pistols.
I also believe that many of these guns were not assembled with belt hooks, bur added later by their owners.

Here is a Spanish and English pistol with belt hooks added later sometime back in the period. The hook on the Spanish pistol looks a bit crude compared to the rest of the gun. The hook on the English pistol, while well done, looks like it was added later since the engraving does not match with the rest of the pistol.

They seem so common on Spanish pistols that I see more of them with belt hooks than not.

Rick

[Philip]

Hi Fernando.

Well, it's still a good looking pistol. Especially that wonderful lock !!
Had I seen this pistol, even if I had known the correct analysis above, if the price was reasonable, I would have bought it anyway just to get the lock for my lock collection. LOL :D The brass hardware I would keep for a later unforseen project. LOL :rolleyes: But that's just me. Again, very cool lock.



Rick

I'd love to have that thing myself, Rick! Look at the chiseling; it has suffered from wear and exposure, but imagine what it looked like when new! Especially appealing, for something made in the second half of the 18th cent., are design elements harking back a century before. Note especially the cock, with its baluster-form stem and jaws that sit at an obtuse angle. Both it and the lockplate profile are so classically Iberian, unaffected by the Frenchification that crept into miquelet lock design in the 18th cent., especially in production for royal patronage.

[fernando]

Obrigado pelas suas palavras, Filipe :) .
I have just disassemble the barrel; a long story it tells.
Evidence that, as per professor Daehnhardt's appreciation, its ignition orifice has been drilled to lodge a percussioon 'rubber' and later welded back into a flintlock touch hole.
Visible also the faded assembly marks and smiths poinçon; and the traces of having had a seconf fixation to a prior stock.


,

[rickystl]

I'd love to have that thing myself, Rick! Look at the chiseling; it has suffered from wear and exposure, but imagine what it looked like when new! Especially appealing, for something made in the second half of the 18th cent., are design elements harking back a century before. Note especially the cock, with its baluster-form stem and jaws that sit at an obtuse angle. Both it and the lockplate profile are so classically Iberian, unaffected by the Frenchification that crept into miquelet lock design in the 18th cent., especially in production for royal patronage.
Hi Philip.
Much agree. Even with the wear, it is still well marked and has a wonderful profile. Maybe Fernando can take a couple more pics of the lock as long as it's disassembled ? Would like to see the internals of the lock.
Rick

[rickystl]

Obrigado pelas suas palavras, Filipe :) .
I have just disassemble the barrel; a long story it tells.
Evidence that, as per professor Daehnhardt's appreciation, its ignition orifice has been drilled to lodge a percussioon 'rubber' and later welded back into a flintlock touch hole.
Visible also the faded assembly marks and smiths poinçon; and the traces of having had a seconf fixation to a prior stock.
Hi Fernando.
OK, yes, you can see where the barrel had a percussion bolster at some point in it's life, then removed. The captive ramrod was probably add when the barrel was converted to percussion.
I'm going to speculate that the barrel and lock were originally from two different guns. And at some point back in the period a new stock was made to accomodate both the barrel and lock. It appears the stock has less wear than the lock and barrel.
For sure, this gun - or at least the lock and barrel - have seen a lot of action. It seems the gun was assembled from various loose parts that were available at the moment. What a story this gun could tell.

Rick

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[Philip]

Hi Philip.
Much agree. Even with the wear, it is still well marked and has a wonderful profile.
Rick

There's something else I just noticed about the profile of the lockplate. It's the "wasp-waisted" shape that originated and which predominated throughout the 17th cent. in Spain and the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies before the more streamlined French type plate virtually replaced it in 18th-19th cent. Madrid. However, note how the tail, with its rounded terminus, tilts downward at an angle.

This downward tail appears to be a Portuguese variant. There are at least seven examples on Portuguese patilha locks on guns in the exhibit catalog ESPINGARDARIA PORTUGUESA / ARMURERIE LIEGEOISE (Daehnhardt & Gaier, 1975), including a gorgeous chiseled example by Malaquias José da Costa. The da Costa lock, despite its late date (1820) and its English-style anti-friction rollers and Frenchified decorative motifs, is otherwise true to its Iberian roots, even to the long cock jaws at an obtuse angle, baluster stem, and otherwise very conservative proportions.

Looking over the published examples of Spanish locks with Ripoll and "provincial" style plates, I find that the tails tend to just stick out straight, with either rounded or triangular termini. (I'm becoming convinced that the square ends may be trans-Alpine, since you see just about all of these on Austrian or south German-made miquelets, but that's a topic for another thread).

Yes, Fernando, some pics of your lock detached from the gun will be welcomed!

[kronckew]

it looks like the new touch hole was fitted to the barrel and brazed into place with a high copper alloy, which is less destructive to the surrounding steel. obviously strong enough to survive this long. plug may have been loosely threaded & needed sealing in. as they say, necessity is the mother of invention.

[Fernando K]

Hello everyone

I think that the barrel was originally flint, and then a knapsack or pump was used to screw the chimney or nipple. In the second transformation, what was done was filing the masacote or bombeta, and the ear was left with a very large measure, the original perforation of the percussion. Look at the perfect limits of the filing, and as follows the original form of the masacote or bombeta.

Affectionately. Fernando k

[fernando]

Are we all speaking about the same thing using different terms ?


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[fernando]

...I'm going to speculate that the barrel and lock were originally from two different guns...
As already stated, the lock and trigger guard once belonged to shoulder (musket) guns.

[fernando]

Alright Gentlemen,
Attending to your request, here goes a new set of pictures; lock (both sides), stock mortise and battery.


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[Fernando K]

Dear namesake

The drum method requires a cylindrical piece, the smaller and more threaded front, which twists in the ear, enlarged to these effects. It ends with a square part, to be able to take it with a key and screw it, which is then eliminated. It DOES NOT REQUIRE WELDING, only a piece that is screwed.

The other method requires a soldering mass on the face of the barrel, coinciding with the primitive ear REQUIRES WELDING

In your barrel there are remains of the weld, outside the mass and this is just a welded sheet.

A hug. Fernando K

[Fernando K]

Dear namesake

Now that I see it better, the shield on the lock's plate does not seem to say BARTOLOMEU GOMES. It would not be the lock's constructor

Fernando K

[Fernando K]

Dear namesake

The working face of the rake seems to be false, welded and a repair is seen with bronze welding on the temple

Fernando K

[fernando]

... Now that I see it better, the shield on the lock's plate does not seem to say BARTOLOMEU GOMES. It would not be the lock's constructor ...
Are you sure, Tocayo ?.
Now you can see it even better ;) .


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[fernando]

... The working face of the rake seems to be false, welded and a repair is seen with bronze welding on the temple...
I see nothing false. What i see is that the rake face is replaceable. When it is much worn, it can be changed, so that the (signed) battery remains the same. I see nothing wrong with that; on the contrary, a good idea.
... Sorry i don't know what you mean by bronze welding on the "temple".

[Fernando K]

Dear namesake

The image was very small, it seemed to me. A thousand pardons

Fernando K

[Fernando K]

Dear namesake

When I say it's false, I mean it's POSTIZA. It's because I do not know English, and I must go to the translator

I want to express PATILLA

Anyway, from now on I will keep silence

[fernando]

...Anyway, from now on I will keep silence
De ninguna manera, Tocayo.
You are an authority in this field; we need you here.
Just a pity that you used to post your texts both translated to English and also in original Spanish. This way we could check on terms translated the wrong way, which so often happens with translating engines, specially on technical subjects.

[Miqueleter]

Fernando K, please do as fernando requested. I learned from you and you always made observations and posts so very much more interesting. So please remain active in the forum.

Respectfully,

miqueleter

[rickystl]

Fernando: Thank you for the additional photos. Most helpful. Some additional observations:

STOCK: The lock mortise now confirms for me that the stock was made later to accomodate the older lock and barrel. While the lock and barrel have seen a lot of use and re-use.
BARREL: Yes, now you can see where the percussion bolster once resided. But it appears there was no effort made to fill in the larger hole and re-drill a smaller hole for the vent. Unless it was filled at some point, and just burned out from usage. (?) I sure would not want to be standing to the side of the lock while firing. LOL
LOCK: This is the first first I've seen with that downward curve of the tail on the lock plate. Glad that Philip offered his analysis of this feature. The seperate striking surface on the frizzen (battery) is quite common on these locks. It would be easier and less expensive to make this piece than to make a new frizzen. And, as mentioned, keeping the identification on the front of the frizzen. While this seperate striking face was usually wedged in place, some of the Eastern locks were actually held in place with a set-screw per the photos below.

Again, it's sure an interesting pistol with a multiple history. And a very interesting Thread. Thanks to all.

Fernando K : Yes, please stay with us. Your expertise is very much needed.

Rick

[Philip]

Thanks, Fernando, for the supplemental images. The interior of the lock shows that this was truly a fine thing in its day, a pity that it has suffered so much from the ravages of wear and corrosion. The design of the mecha da caxeta (or whatever the concise English term is for the internal leaf spring that supports both the full-cock sear stud and which gives tension to the half-cock sear and trigger arm) has really deluxe touches, it is not the straight bar that is seen on more utilitarian locks.

Rick, the use of a set-screw to secure the striated striking-plate onto the frizzen body was common in Spain as well through most of the 18th cent. J D Lavin, our go-to author in the English-language literature on the subject, notes that during the 17th cent., the strike plate was narrower than the body, whose sides extended outward a couple of millimeters on each side of the dovetail to form a "lip". These early plates tended to also have grooves that were shallower at the center than at the top and bottom of the plate.

In the 18th cent., the frizzen body and plate were flush on each side. The grooves also took on an equal depth top to bottom. P 160 of his A HISTORY OF SPANISH FIREARMS has diagrams of both types, I'm sure you and Fernando have this book.

Examining the 3 guns with patilla locks in my collection, I note the following that reflect a change in design during the final decades of the 18th cent. and a regional variant on copies made outside of Spain:

1. Elimination of the set-screw. The dovetailing is so precise as to be hardly visible, and the sides are flush, with grooves of constant depth both consistent with the above paragraph.. This, on a Catalan-stocked fowler with a lock of provincial style by Fernando Murúa, analogous to a very similar one by Guisasola / Navarro dated 1796, Metropolitan Museum no. 16.135 which you can access online via the Collections section of the Museum's website.

2. Elimination of the grooves. On this gun, a fowler by Miguel de Zegarra (court gunsmith to King Carlos III) 1770s, the frizzen is shaped like that of a French flintlock with curved face and "tombstone" rounded top. But the strike plate is still dovetailed in place and the joint is very difficult to discern.

3. One-piece flintlock-style frizzen with no grooves. This on a miquelet lock of south German or Austrian origin. It and the stock with its fittings were made to accommodate a war-trophy Ottoman smoothbore damascus barrel of the 17th cent., the gun built around 1690.

[corrado26]

The design of the mecha da caxeta (or whatever the concise English term is for the internal leaf spring that supports both the full-cock sear stud and which gives tension to the half-cock sear and trigger arm) has really deluxe touches, it is not the straight bar that is seen on more utilitarian locks.


I have im my collection a miquelet pistol whose lock has at the inner side of the lockplate a very similar spring. As there is not a single mark to be found on the barrel, the lock or the mounts I do not know in which country this pistol has been made. The shape of ist stock is very special, it never had a trigger guard and the shape of the lockplate is very uncommon too. They told me that it might have been made in Naples/I but this is just a guess.
corrado26

[fernando]

RIPOLL ?

(from Coleccionar ARMAS ANTIGAS by Rainer Daehnhardt).


.

[fernando]

There's something else I just noticed about the profile of the lockplate. It's the "wasp-waisted" shape ...However, note how the tail, with its rounded terminus, tilts downward at an angle... This downward tail appears to be a Portuguese variant ...

Do you mean like this other one made by XAVIER DOS REIS in 1758 ...

(From "Prestige de l'armurerie Portugaise")


.

[corrado26]

RIPOLL ?

(from Coleccionar ARMAS ANTIGAS by Rainer Daehnhardt).


.


Fernando, thank you very much, this was a very great help. I just ordered the Daehnhardt book
corrado26

[fernando]

Fernando, thank you very much, this was a very great help. I just ordered the Daehnhardt book...
Glad to be of some help :cool: .

[Philip]

Do you mean like this other one made by XAVIER DOD RES in 1758 ...

(From "Prestige de l'armurerie Portugaise")


.

Yes, exactly.

Your pistol has proved to be a very interesting thing on a number of counts! What a life it has led...

[rickystl]

Much agree. Great thread trying to unravel the mystery.

Rick

[fernando]

Fernando, thank you very much, this was a very great help. I just ordered the Daehnhardt book
corrado26
I don't want to create any confucsuion but, apparently this type of pistol was also made in Portugal. In the work ESPINGARDA PERFEYTA (page 463) you can see a pair of pistols with a Castillian style lock, marked with date PORTO 1780 and with an unidentified signature.

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[Philip]

I don't want to create any confucsuion but, apparently this type of pistol was also made in Portugal. In the work ESPINGARDA PERFEYTA (page 463) you can see a pair of pistols with a Castillian style lock, marked with date PORTO 1780 and with an unidentified signature.

.

So true, Fernando. The various types of miquelet locks had a truly international following, their popularity was not just limited to their birthplaces. Daehnhardt/Gaier ESPINGARDARIA PORTUGUESA/ARMURERIE LIÈGEOISE shows photos of some truly regal Portuguese sporting guns with patilha locks. Because southern Italy was ruled by Spain for so long, the patilla lock also became a mainstay with Neapolitan gunsmiths, and Brescian workshops also made them for the southern market. (see Marcello Terenzi, L'ARTE DI MICHELE BATTISTA, ARMAIOLO NAPOLETANO for examples, mostly with Madrid-style buttstocks to boot.).

Likewise, the alla romana type of mechanism was also made in Spain, note the exquisite fowling pieces with such locks by court gunsmith Diego Esquibel (early 18th cent., Armería Real de Madrid K-139) and a similar (K-138) by Nicolás Bis, see photos in A. Soler del Campo, CATÁLOGO DE ARCABUCERA MADRILEÑA

[Philip]

Oh, I forgot to mention the copies of patilla locks made by Austrian and German smiths, mostly in the 17th cent., to fit onto sporting guns built on captured Ottoman damascus gun barrels (the original Turkish locks were of inferior workmanship and almost never reused), or onto imitation Spanish-style shotguns made to capitalize on the popularity of the originals by virtue of their barrels. Modified versions of the lock are also seen on some French and Austrian breechloaders of the early 18th cent. The quality of the Germanic products was typically, as can be expected, quite high and the mechanical design kept pace with contemporary development in southern Europe.