Earliest Arquebusier's and Musketeer's Trapezoidal Powder Flasks, ca. 1530-1590

[Matchlock]

A nice sample, and in perfectly preserved original condition, ca. 1580.

[Matchlock]

Two large specimens of trapezoid musketeer's flasks partly retaining their tassels, in the reserveve collection of the City Museum Köln (Cologne), ca. 1570, the body of the one on the left covered with parchment.
The left one of the small flasks was for priming powder, ca. 1570-80, the other with the additional leather pouch belonged to the pistols and arquebuses of Saxon guardsmen of ca. 1560. The pouch was v´certainly not for balls but probably for reserve pyrites or small cleaning tools such as worms and scourers.

Author's photos, 1987.

m

[Martin Moser]

Hello Matchlock and all,

I think I understand the mechanism of these powderflasks, but would like to know for sure. Could you perhaps point me to a description or sectional drawing of these?

Thanks and best,
Martin

[Matchlock]

Hi Martin,


I can but provide you with a detail from Jacob de Gheyn's exercise manual Wapenhandelinghe van Roers, Mvsqvetten ende Spiessen, 1608, showing a caliverman loading his matchlock caliver (German: Schützenrohr) from the flask.
First he had to push the lateral cutoff lever against the pressure of a spring, then he would turn the flask uspide down allowing powder to fill the nozzle. Next he would release the cutoff lever, thus saving the correct amount of powder in the nozzle, and hold the nozzle over the muzzle of his caliver. By pressing the long top lever he allowed the measured amount of powder to run down the barrel.
This last step is depicted in the attached engraving, with one difference: as the type of flask shown does not seem to have a long spring-loaded top lever he had to use his thumb to close the nozzle and measure the right dose of powder.

This procedure was basically the same with both caliverman's and (trapezoid) musketeer's flasks.


I also attached an image of the detached top mount of a trapezoid flask and view of the internal mechanism of such a flask, illustrating the thin oval cutoff plate moving on the same rivet, and parallel to the cutoff lever, and closing or opening the nozzle entrance.
The fact that you see two nozzles on the same top mount is due to the special construction of that unique two-way flask:
http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showth...teer%27s+flask


Best,
Michael

[Matchlock]

No post.

[Martin Moser]

Hi Michael,

thank you for the detailed description and the link to the pictures showing exactly the details I wanted reconfirmed. The meachism works as I imagined it would. This was most helpful, highly appreciated!
Now I need to build one of these for my little arquebus :-)

Best,
Martin

[Matchlock]

Hi Martin,


As an optimum fit with a ca. 1525 snap-tinderlock arquebus like yours, I would recommend either a powder horn terminating in a mechanism at its broad end, as shown on a series of tapestries of the Battle at Pavia which are now preserved in the Capodimonte museum Naples, a small round flask with top mechanism, as depicted in a drawing of ca. 1520-30, or the earliest type of a trapezoid flask combined with a leather pouch (most certainly not for balls but for cleaning tools that could be screwed to the threaded iron finial (German: eiserner Setzerkopf mit Innengewinde) of the ramrod - the ramrod on your arquebus is not fitted with such a finial, I realize, as it was missing from the original gun that Armin copied):
http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showth...rapezoid+flask

Tomorrow, I will take good images of small and round ca. 1560 Nuremberg flask in my collection, the obverse also with a nailed-on leather pouch much too delicate to hold balls.

Generally spoken, the mechanism on such early flasks was nearly identical to that on later 16th c. samples.


Best,
Michael

[Martin Moser]

Hi Michael,

excellent! Many thanks for your efforts, this is very kind indeed. I will talk to a friend of mine who does wood turning to look into a circular flask. I will definitely also do a small trapezoid one. Need to finish some shoes first, though :-)

Best,
Martin