[Matchlock]

Attachments to post 16,
from top:

- a large early Renaissance door lock for a portal, Bavaria, dated 1527 (author's collection); please note the profusely curved edge and the zoomorphic ornament in the right corner representing a serpent.
In Late Gothic and Remaissance art, ornaments shaped like serpents or dragons had an apotropaic meaning. Additionally, their winding corresponds to exactly the same sense of style as the running vine pattern. On the barrel of a firearm made between the 2nd half of the 15th c. and the early 17th c., and sometimes on the stock of 16th to early 17 th gun, this decoration denotes the psychologic and magic impression of a sea monster or a dragon breathing fire.

From the aspect of art history, these flames are based on the same sense of style as the running vine pattern and the serpent.