Snaphaunce pistol - Origin not clear

[FenrisWolf]

Originally Posted by fernando

Thank you so much Philip, for the excelent information.
Are the pictures clear enough to guess an age on this piece ? Could it be prior to the 20th century ?

Looking closely at the pistol, I'd guess that the lock and barrel are from an earlier piece, and this is a replacement stock. I say that because of the quality of the metalwork on the lock itself, and the poor fit of the inletting into the stock. What you can see of the barrel is alos of finer quality than the workmanship surrounding it. So even if the pistol is 20th cetnury (which I doubt), I think the odds are that the works are older, possibly much older.

Fenris

[fernando]

Hi Fenris,
Thank you for your coments.
I can see your point.
Here are some more pictures of the barrel and other details.
You will notice the dark stains in the wood, around the screws and near the barrel. Would this mean this stock has seen some use, even having been a replacement to the original one ?
kind regards
fernando

[FenrisWolf]

Originally Posted by fernando

Hi Fenris,
Thank you for your coments.
I can see your point.
Here are some more pictures of the barrel and other details.
You will notice the dark stains in the wood, around the screws and near the barrel. Would this mean this stock has seen some use, even having been a replacement to the original one ?
kind regards
fernando

Those darkened holes around the bolt heads bring up an entirely different possibility. Given the reasonably good fit of the inletting around the barrel and tang (as revealed in the new pictures), it's probably the lock that is the replacement, not the stock. Those large holes are evidence that originally there were bolts with much larger heads inletted into the stock. The snaphance locks changed very little over their lifespan, so it's not surprising that a gunsmith was able to replace an earlier one with a new lock. Snaphance locks, while a significant improvement over the much more fragile wheellock mechanisms, are still needlessly complex, with something like three times as many moving parts as a true flintlock. Given the number of weapons being converted from snaphance to flintlock, the gunsmith might easily have had a spare lock lying around, making it cheaper to replace the old lock than to repair it. Given the evidence of the bolt head inlets along with the rough fit of the inletting around the lock, that would be my guess.

[PompeusMagnus]

I can't find any information about Portuguese arsenal Fernando :S
I went to the Military Museum of Lisbon and there wasn't many information :S
Can you suggest a place where i might find book's of Portuguese arsenal ?
Thank you

[fernando]

Hi Pompeius, welcome to the forum.
I don't know of any book dedicated to the Portuguese arsenal. We can read several allusions to its existence and production in books dedicated to weapons or the Discoveries period, but not an exclusive publication ... at least in my case. We know that the arsenal, during its long history, has had different names and was placed in various locations; one of them being precisely where the Lisbon Military Museum is now situated.
You may visit the shop of arms collector and historian Rainer Daenhardt in Cascais, only open on Sarturdays, and ask him for any books including some data in the Portuguese arsenal.
You may as well buy him a copy of "Homens Espadas e Tomates", written by Daenhardt himself, which contains some quotations to the arsenal, concerning artillery.
Te shop, which contains lots of antique arms for sale, is called Sala das Armas and is situated in Rua Visconde da Luz, 9.
All the best.

[Matchlock]

Hi 'Nando,

As snapha(u)nce arms are not exactly my main subject, it was sadly only now that I found your thread.

I am quite sure that your ball-butted or pear-shaped butt pistol (puffer) is of English origin, ca. 1600 to early 17th c., in its main parts.
The shape and decoration of the barrel tang and the fore end bands denote that they are later working-time alterations the decorations of which show some Oriental or Southern Euroean influence.

English pistols of the Late Renaissance period are extremely rare to find in unaltered condition.


I attach a similar but unaltered English specimen of a 'puffer', the trigger and guard missing, in the Doges Palace, Venice, and an image of another in an unknown collection.
For stylistic comparison, the one at the bottom is also English but of the Cromwellian period, ca. 1645, also in the Palazzo Ducale..


For more on snapha(u)nces, please see

http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showthread.php?t=14112


Best, my friend,
Michl

[fernando]

That's great Michl,
... Better late than never.
Thanks a lot