A flintlock pistol ... with a Portuguese lock.

Philip · 3rd December 2017, 11:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fernando

I don't want to create any confucsuion but, apparently this type of pistol was also made in Portugal. In the work ESPINGARDA PERFEYTA (page 463) you can see a pair of pistols with a Castillian style lock, marked with date PORTO 1780 and with an unidentified signature.

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So true, Fernando. The various types of miquelet locks had a truly international following, their popularity was not just limited to their birthplaces. Daehnhardt/Gaier ESPINGARDARIA PORTUGUESA/ARMURERIE LIÈGEOISE shows photos of some truly regal Portuguese sporting guns with patilha locks. Because southern Italy was ruled by Spain for so long, the patilla lock also became a mainstay with Neapolitan gunsmiths, and Brescian workshops also made them for the southern market. (see Marcello Terenzi, L'ARTE DI MICHELE BATTISTA, ARMAIOLO NAPOLETANO for examples, mostly with Madrid-style buttstocks to boot.).

Likewise, the alla romana type of mechanism was also made in Spain, note the exquisite fowling pieces with such locks by court gunsmith Diego Esquibel (early 18th cent., Armería Real de Madrid K-139) and a similar (K-138) by Nicolás Bis, see photos in A. Soler del Campo, CATÁLOGO DE ARCABUCERA MADRILEÑA

Philip · 4th December 2017, 12:05 AM

Oh, I forgot to mention the copies of patilla locks made by Austrian and German smiths, mostly in the 17th cent., to fit onto sporting guns built on captured Ottoman damascus gun barrels (the original Turkish locks were of inferior workmanship and almost never reused), or onto imitation Spanish-style shotguns made to capitalize on the popularity of the originals by virtue of their barrels. Modified versions of the lock are also seen on some French and Austrian breechloaders of the early 18th cent. The quality of the Germanic products was typically, as can be expected, quite high and the mechanical design kept pace with contemporary development in southern Europe.

4th December 2017, 12:05 AM	#2
Philip Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: California Posts: 1,036	Oh, I forgot to mention the copies of patilla locks made by Austrian and German smiths, mostly in the 17th cent., to fit onto sporting guns built on captured Ottoman damascus gun barrels (the original Turkish locks were of inferior workmanship and almost never reused), or onto imitation Spanish-style shotguns made to capitalize on the popularity of the originals by virtue of their barrels. Modified versions of the lock are also seen on some French and Austrian breechloaders of the early 18th cent. The quality of the Germanic products was typically, as can be expected, quite high and the mechanical design kept pace with contemporary development in southern Europe.