Matchlock Hand Mortar
 

Has anyone ever seen or heard of a grenade launcher or hand mortar being fitted with a matchlock mechanism? I have seen many examples with wheellocks and flintlocks, but never a matchlock.

Hi Deus,


Welcome to the forum.

No single hand mortar (Katzenkopf) solely equiped with a matchlock ignition is recorded.
Wheellock hand mortars of the late 16th-early 17th c. however were often combined with an additional snap-matchlock or tinderlock serpentine on the left side of the wheel.
They are also called grenade launchers.
Most of them feature cast-bronze barrels but a few samples are known to be mounted with wrought-iron barrels (see bottom attachments in post # 4).

Atached first are two mortars in the Bayerisches Nationalmuseum München, both made in Nuremberg:
the upper with a combined snap-matchlock and wheellock, ca. 1590, the safety-catch missing;
the lower with a wheellock, and featuring an extremely flared fishtail butt, ca. 1600;

next a sample with combined snap-matchlock and wheellock ignition, Nuremberg, ca. 1590, and retaining its safety-catch; in the British Museum London.


Best,
Michael

Two more instances in the Bayerisches Armeemuseum Ingolstadt, both equiped with wheellock mechanisms:

- the first Nuremberg, ca. 1590, retaining its safety-catch

- the other Nuremberg, ca. 1600, part of the inside mechanism missing


- a similar sample equiped with a wheellock mechanism and left-hand side safety-catch, Nurembeg, ca. 1610, sold Christie's, Oct 25, 2001

- and the only known illustrative source of period artwork, ca. 1600, showing the way a wheellock hand mortar was rested upright on top of the shoulder when firing.


m

Two very rare wheellock hand mortar pistols, ca. 1600, almost forming a pair; and a common wheellock mortar;
all Nuremberg, ca. 1590; in Skokloster Castle, Sweden.

A military pistol, ca. 1620, in the museum of Mühlhausen, Alsace.

And a fine Nuremberg wheellock mortar, ca. 1590, the trigger guard with hinged fold-out finger grip; in the Wallace Collection, London.


m

Welcome to the forum, Deus.
I hope Michael has satisfactorily answered your question :cool: .

Thank you very much! The illustration of the man firing the mortar is most interesting. I wonder, wouldn't one have to brace the pistols from the recoil as well? Would they be held against the shoulder as well? Or perhaps against the leg?

Two late wheellock grenade launchers.

The first of Netherlandish manufacture, ca. 1630, in the Musee de l'Armee, Paris.

The second probably Strasbourg, now preserved in the National Museum Krakow; contrary to what the description states, the stock is absolutely contemporary and the gun can be safely attributed to ca. 1655-60.

And one of the latest grenade launchers, flintlock, ca. 1730, in the Army Museum Stockholm.


m

Wow! talk about hand cannons!! :eek:

Thank you Michael for these wonderful pictures. The wheel-lock examples are especially interesting. I recently saw two very large wheel-lock guns at a museum in Montreal and I find them to be a fascinating bit of construction.

Emanuel

Hi Emanuel,


Yes, the wheellock was the most fascinating but also the most accident-sensitive igniting mechanism. :)


Best,
m

What would the size of the bore be, commonly?

Ca. 50-70 mm.

m

Fantastic. Thank you. These are extremely interesting weapons. Are there any period written acounts or descriptions of their use?

As I said, the only illustrative period source I know is attached to post # 2.

Best,
m

Right, illustrated. I meant whether there was any literary description anywhere. Did anyone ever write anything about their tactical use or do they show up in any lists of equipment in armies or armouries?

Sorry, not to my knowledge; otherwise I would have mentioned it.

m

Another very rare and big bore wheellock grenade launcher pistol, Northern Italy, ca. 1630, in the
Royal Museum of the Arme Forces, Brussels, Belgium:

http://www.google.de/imgres?q=crossb...11,s:140,i:179

m

A Fine Nuremberg Hand Mortar at Cazo Auction House, Paris
 

The auction took place on Dec 1, 2013 but there are no results as yet.

Sorry for the quality of the images but their online catalog is in pdf only.



Best,
Michael

Now here is the story of provenance to a fine wheellock hand-mortar I introduced in post #3, its copper-alloy barrel cast in high relief with the city arms of Schwabach in Franconia/Bavaria, the blackened beechwood full stock carved in the characteristic manner of Suhl/Thuringia, ca. 1600-10, that is now preserved in the Bavarian Army Museum (BAM) Ingolstadt, just 30 km from where I live. A small part of the internal action is missing from the lock plate.

It remained unsold (!) at Sotheby's, London sale of Nov. 17, 1981, lot 52. Later it sold at Christie's, London, on July 10, 1985, at 9,000 euro, and it was resold at Hermann Historica, Munich, on April 26, 1986, lot 550, at more than 21,000 euro (all prices in today's money).


Best,
Michael

A wheellock grenade or fireworks launcher of ca. 1600, and two flintlock mortars, ca. 1740-50; all in the Muzeum Wojska Polskiego, Warsaw, Poland.

m

Better images of that fine Nuremberg mortar in the Wallace Colln. from post #4.
The description correctly points out the actual use of most of these finely wrought pieces: they were employed to launch fireworks.
The foldout trigger guard provided a tighter grip.

m

Re. post #17:

As of today, the French auction house Cazo provides no results of that sale of 1st Dec 2013.

m