Mid to Late 16th Century Patrons for Paper Cartridges

[Matchlock]

Dear Piotr,


Thank you so much for your kind words, they made me blush!

Let's get serious though: actually, admiration is not at all what I deserve. Having dedicated more than 35 years of my life solely to the studies of a section of historical weaponry almost completely neglected so far, I feel obliged to be able and clarify with authority literally any question, as well as produce actual samples to back up my statement.
If it were not so I would have to regard myself as a flash in the pan -to abide by the matchlock image (I do like this pun ).

Concerning your query, I leafed through my 280,000+ analog photo archives for hours until I finally managed to come up with the samples attached. I took them at the Graz Armory (Landeszeughaus) in Styria, Southern Austria, and at the Heeresgeschichtliches Museum (Army Museum) in Vienna.
Depicted are so-called Fuhrmann-Dusäggen (carters' tessaks), ca. 1580-90, meaning Austria manufactured sabers the scabbards of which are combined with a patron. The latter consists of a core of tin-plated sheet divided in an average of 5 soldered cylindrical compartments for paper cartridges. This tinned iron patron was covered with thin leather and formed an integral part of the scabbard locket (German: Mundblech).

For today, and to make your mouth water, I attached a few photos of Styrian Dusäggen in the Graz Armory..
Of course, I will digitalize and post more soon.


Best,
Michael