Ethnographic Arms & Armour - View Single Post - Ottoman Tufek

Philip · 30th June 2019, 11:01 PM

Something interesting and worth noting here, Rick.

Take a look at the horizontal bridle that bridges the cock pivot screw (which has its own small vertical bridle) with the priming pan assembly. In and of itself this is a characteristic of virtually all Oriental versions of the Spanish patilla lock and such a bridge is not normally found on the European originals save in the case of a few surviving early Spanish (?) and Italian locks of this type.

On most Balkan locks, the bridge takes the form of a flat bar of metal, slightly shaped for its application. On yours -- notice that the rear portion is of round cross section and up front under the pan, the flat face is cut with oblique filework suggesting a spiral motif.

I'm quite sure you have a copy of W. Keith Neal's Spanish Guns and Pistols,and if so, check out the photoplates, 66 and 67 in particular. There are two locks, one which he IDs as Spanish ca 1640 which has this feature in fully developed form and the other, which he calls "Kurdish-made...ca 1700" rather resembles yours, with filework of similar workmanship.

Mr Neal's supposition that these represent the foundation of the style of miquelet that was to become near-universal in the Otto Empire, the Levant, and Iran rests on solid ground. Unfortunately in his book he doesn't go into any detail as to the dates he assigns, and it may be that he was using the designation "Kurdish" a bit loosely -- remember that the book was written in the 1950s when the study and appreciation of ethnographic arms in general was not to the level that we enjoy today. If you would substitute, say, "middle Eastern", it will still fit in with the view that we still hold today.

Neal's assessment of Spanish origin for No. 66 is quite convincing when you look at the radiating filework on the substantial cock bridle, taking on a scalloped or sunburst appearance. This is a hallmark of Ripoll miquelet locks of the 17th and 18th cent. and it is likely that a considerable export trade in these and in Brescian imitations thereof to the eastern Mediterranean helped establish the design and decorative traditions followed by lock makers in the Ottoman Empire into the 19th cent.

30th June 2019, 11:01 PM	#5
Philip Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: California Posts: 1,036	characteristics of lock design Something interesting and worth noting here, Rick. Take a look at the horizontal bridle that bridges the cock pivot screw (which has its own small vertical bridle) with the priming pan assembly. In and of itself this is a characteristic of virtually all Oriental versions of the Spanish patilla lock and such a bridge is not normally found on the European originals save in the case of a few surviving early Spanish (?) and Italian locks of this type. On most Balkan locks, the bridge takes the form of a flat bar of metal, slightly shaped for its application. On yours -- notice that the rear portion is of round cross section and up front under the pan, the flat face is cut with oblique filework suggesting a spiral motif. I'm quite sure you have a copy of W. Keith Neal's Spanish Guns and Pistols,and if so, check out the photoplates, 66 and 67 in particular. There are two locks, one which he IDs as Spanish ca 1640 which has this feature in fully developed form and the other, which he calls "Kurdish-made...ca 1700" rather resembles yours, with filework of similar workmanship. Mr Neal's supposition that these represent the foundation of the style of miquelet that was to become near-universal in the Otto Empire, the Levant, and Iran rests on solid ground. Unfortunately in his book he doesn't go into any detail as to the dates he assigns, and it may be that he was using the designation "Kurdish" a bit loosely -- remember that the book was written in the 1950s when the study and appreciation of ethnographic arms in general was not to the level that we enjoy today. If you would substitute, say, "middle Eastern", it will still fit in with the view that we still hold today. Neal's assessment of Spanish origin for No. 66 is quite convincing when you look at the radiating filework on the substantial cock bridle, taking on a scalloped or sunburst appearance. This is a hallmark of Ripoll miquelet locks of the 17th and 18th cent. and it is likely that a considerable export trade in these and in Brescian imitations thereof to the eastern Mediterranean helped establish the design and decorative traditions followed by lock makers in the Ottoman Empire into the 19th cent.