Matchlock Petronels, Germany, ca. 1550-1600

[fernando]

Originally Posted by Matchlock

... In 1579, Franz Hogenberg illustrated Landsknechts from Spain with their matchlock petronels, in his engraving The Surrender of Schloss Hohenlimburg (next 3 attachments).

Say Michael ...
Meaning that those mercenaries are Spaniards hired to fight in Hohenlimburg ?
... or am i on the wrong track ?

[Matchlock]

I don't know for sure but I think the soldiers depicted by Hohenberg are not Spaniards; the Spanish paragon concerning court ceremonial, costumes, armor and weapons alike was copied all over Northern Europe in the second half of the 16th century - England (Queen Victoria I) included. The German morion helmets looked just like the Spanish, from the mid 16th century onwards.

m

[fernando]

Originally Posted by Matchlock

...The German morion helmets looked just like the Spanish, from the mid 16th century onwards...

Thst's what hit me; apparently Portuguese looked the same.

[Matchlock]

Originally Posted by fernando

Thst's what hit me; apparently Portuguese looked the same.

Of course they did, Nando; the Portuguese have always ranked among the best!!! And at least one of them still does ...

m

[fernando]

Flattering Bavarians

[Matchlock]

Yeah, my friend, that's what we are ...

m

[Matchlock]

Two decorated, early (ca. 1570), large-bore cand heavyweight matchlock petronel muskets, in the Bayerisches Armeemuseum (Bavarian Army Museum) Ingolstadt; author's photos of May 1988.

The fruitwood stock of the first inlaid with engraved staghorn or bone plaques, showing hop decoration that is characteristic of the style of the 1560's to ca. 1580. The barrel octagonal throughout, and struck with the Nuremberg proof mark.
Please note that the delicate buttstock is reinforced with an iron strap, which is often seen on Nuremberg petronels (cf. the Nuremberg petronel in the Zürich museum, posted above). Nuremberg and Augsburg makers usually provided the best workmanship.
The serpentine (match- or tinderholder) is a modern and stylistically inapt 'restoration'.

The stock of the second sparsely decorated with arabesques and a few oval, engraved staghorn or bone plaques. The serpentine definitely shows North Italian influence, and may not belong; the barrel octagonal to round, with short, swamped and ornamentally iron-carved muzzle section.
The original long and tubular backsight and pan cover are missing.


A basic warning to prospective buyers of a petronel:

The chance to acquire a heavily 'restored' and altered piece is over 80 per cent! Most of the petronels I have seen, in musems, at dealers or auctions, were shortened by about 25 per cent, often altered as early as in the 18th and 19th century. The decoration was often faked, and the long tubular back sight was nearly always missing. The highly ornamented piece in the British museum is a complete late 19th century (Spitzer) fake, with a few parts recycled.
And believe me: it takes decades of closest studies to tell the good from the bad ...


Best,
Michael

[Matchlock]

So let's have a look now at the latest stage of development of the petronel, the 1580's and 1590's, up to ca. 1600.

The top attachments show Italian petronels of the most modern form of the bent stock, ca. 1580's to 1590.

Here is a heavy petronel musket, the stock inlaid with plaques of engraved bone or staghorn, dated 1579, in the Rüstkammer (armory) of Emden, Northwest Germany.


m

[Matchlock]

A short 'retrospective' into the 1570's:


Attached find an unusually fine and elegant Italian matchlock petronel caliver, ca. 1570; overall length 1.31 m, sold at auction with San Giorgio's, Italy, 10 October 2007, lot 415.
The barrel is profusely iron carved, and the delicate stock is inlaid with strips of staghorn along the edges. Just wonderful but it would seem a shame to use this piece in war.
Yes, sometimes it happens that beauties like this caliver actually are for sale.

m