Ethnographic Arms & Armour - View Single Post - What is the earliest contemporary description or illustration of a blunderbuss

Matchlock · 5th October 2013, 01:24 PM

Hi Dana W,

The oldest illustrative source relating to blunderbusses is, in my opinion, a contemporary drawing of the murder of Thomas Thynne, London, 1681 (1st attachment) where the raiders employed such big-mouthed guns.

Real blunderbusses are known from as early as the 1560's-70's; the very few surving examples are of Dutch origin. Attached please find a scan of p. 181 from Arne Hoff's Dutch Firearms. The match serpentine, trigger and guard are all missing from the illustrated sample which can be closely dated to the 1570's, the fore end is a modern replacement, and so is the wood surrounding the barrel tang.

Attached next is a fine and completely preserved military matchlock blunderbuss, Dutch, the stock and lock ca. 1620 (early Thirty Years War), the barrel reused from an older gun and dating as early as ca. 1560-70; the pan and swiveling cover are working-time modernizations of ca. 1620, the toe and nose of the buttstock show old cracks but are both the original, just reattached. The stock with the wide-flared fishtail butt is of oak; the muzzle diameter of the very heavy wrought-iron barrel is 5 cm! The ramrod is iron, too, and is the original (author's collection).

Next in line are author's photos of the most impressive Dutch matchlock blunderbuss barrel I have ever seen, ca. 1560-70, the swiveling pan cover missing; the muzzle diameter is 8 cm!!! The barrel stages divided by filed moldings closely correspond to those on the barrel of my sampe.
I took the photos 20 years ago when that huge monster was sold at auction.

Best,
Michael

5th October 2013, 01:24 PM	#20
Matchlock (deceased) Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Bavaria, Germany - the center of 15th and 16th century gunmaking Posts: 4,310	Hi Dana W, The oldest illustrative source relating to blunderbusses is, in my opinion, a contemporary drawing of the murder of Thomas Thynne, London, 1681 (1st attachment) where the raiders employed such big-mouthed guns. Real blunderbusses are known from as early as the 1560's-70's; the very few surving examples are of Dutch origin. Attached please find a scan of p. 181 from Arne Hoff's Dutch Firearms. The match serpentine, trigger and guard are all missing from the illustrated sample which can be closely dated to the 1570's, the fore end is a modern replacement, and so is the wood surrounding the barrel tang. Attached next is a fine and completely preserved military matchlock blunderbuss, Dutch, the stock and lock ca. 1620 (early Thirty Years War), the barrel reused from an older gun and dating as early as ca. 1560-70; the pan and swiveling cover are working-time modernizations of ca. 1620, the toe and nose of the buttstock show old cracks but are both the original, just reattached. The stock with the wide-flared fishtail butt is of oak; the muzzle diameter of the very heavy wrought-iron barrel is 5 cm! The ramrod is iron, too, and is the original (author's collection). Next in line are author's photos of the most impressive Dutch matchlock blunderbuss barrel I have ever seen, ca. 1560-70, the swiveling pan cover missing; the muzzle diameter is 8 cm!!! The barrel stages divided by filed moldings closely correspond to those on the barrel of my sampe. I took the photos 20 years ago when that huge monster was sold at auction. Best, Michael Attached Images Last edited by Matchlock; 5th October 2013 at 01:36 PM.