Hangonnes from Helsinki (Finland)

[Spiridonov]

I have made photos of two handgonnes of early 16 century which lays in Historic museum of Helsinki

[fernando]

Great pictures Alexander ... and great pieces, too !
Thanks for sharing :).
Oh, i dream of having one of these handgonnes or, should i call them, tiller guns ? :o

[Matchlock]

Hi there,

Some darn virus killed my computer some five weeks ago but I got a new machine and I am back online and riding again. :)

Alexander, thank you so much for these images; you are perfectly right about dating these objects as the touchhole and pan cannot be any earlier than ca. 1500, though the general shape of these tiller guns (great observation, 'Nando! :cool: ) or haquebuts is still that of ca. 1480.

The soapstone ball mold featured in the first image ranges among the earliest molds known and may be as early as ca. 1400 but may, on the other hand, be made and used as late as the early 1500's. Of course, its upper half is missing now.

Best,
Michael