A unique bronze barrel wall gun (doppelter Doppelhaken), Nuremberg, ca. 1515-20

Matchlock · 9th December 2014, 10:57 PM

The Nuremberg Doppelhaken dated 1537, when still in the long exhibition hall of Hohenlohe Castle.
Contrary to the the opinion uttered in Thomas Del Mar's catalog description, the author is convinced that the stock was the original.

The barrelsmith's mark struck three time in the Gothic tradition was identified and termed by the author as that of the Nuremberg worksphop of the "Meister mit den gekreuzten Pfeilen" (Master of the Crossed Arrows).
It belonged to an obviously very prolific workshop which is known to have concentrated on the manufacture of cranequins for crossbows from at least the 1520's.
In 40 years of research, the author has documemted 16 cranequins in museums, private collections, at dealers and auction houses, the earliest of them ca. 1520-25; the earliest dated cranequin struck with this mark, 1532, formerly was in the author's collection and is now in a Bavarian private collection, together with other cranequins from the same workshop, dated 1540 and 1545 respectively.

From ca. the mid-1530's, that workshop seems to also have manufactured wrought iron barrels.
The barrel of another, almost identical wall gun still preserved at Schloss Hohenlohe bears the same mark and identical date 1537 - please see atts. to follower post.

Author's photos.

9th December 2014, 10:57 PM	#11
Matchlock (deceased) Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Bavaria, Germany - the center of 15th and 16th century gunmaking Posts: 4,310	The Nuremberg Doppelhaken dated 1537, when still in the long exhibition hall of Hohenlohe Castle. Contrary to the the opinion uttered in Thomas Del Mar's catalog description, the author is convinced that the stock was the original. The barrelsmith's mark struck three time in the Gothic tradition was identified and termed by the author as that of the Nuremberg worksphop of the "*Meister mit den gekreuzten Pfeilen" (Master of the Crossed Arrows). It belonged to an obviously very prolific workshop which is known to have concentrated on the manufacture of cranequins for crossbows from at least the 1520's. In 40 years of research, the author has documemted 16 cranequins in museums, private collections, at dealers and auction houses, the earliest of them ca. 1520-25; the earliest dated cranequin struck with this mark, 1532, formerly was in the author's collection and is now in a Bavarian private collection, together with other cranequins from the same workshop, dated 1540 and 1545* respectively. From ca. the mid-1530's, that workshop seems to also have manufactured wrought iron barrels. The barrel of another, almost identical wall gun still preserved at Schloss Hohenlohe bears the same mark and identical date 1537 - please see atts. to follower post. Author's photos. Attached Images Last edited by Matchlock; 10th December 2014 at 01:23 PM.