Hi Cornelis,
This is a well known type of apparently early European form; they come with either three or four barrels and sometimes with a rest of the stick stock still in the socket. They are not rare at all.
There was a time in the first half of the 20th century when European historical weaponry was not yet aware of the types of archaic types of hanguns made in Indochina and the neighboring countries, of copper alloy and iron alike, resembling very much the forms of 14th and early 15th century European firearms. Of course, just as Indian matchlocks, they got there by sea trade and were then copied for centuries with very little alteration if ever. As they look so unbelievably archaic and authentic, some of them even found their way into European museums where they were consequently inventoried as 'German, 14th-15th c.' E.g. this is the case at the Museum Carolino Augusteum at Linz, Austria, which the seller is boasting of.
Today we know better and it was the great author and collector Howard L. Blackmore, who first identified a three barreled item in his own collection as 'oriental' and 'of uncertain date' in his 1964 booklet Firearms.
Best,
Michael
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