A Crudely FAKED Wall Gun, in the Style of ca. 1500!

[Matchlock]

Fortunately, this crude fake failed to sell in the latest auction of Hermann Historica's, Munich, 5 May 2014, lot 21.

The wrought-iron barrel is the only older part of the whole item; it is from an Indian (Raipur!) matchlock wall gun, 19th century.
Everthing else, including the hook (!), is brand new (!), and made so ridiculously primitively that it will make any expert laugh out loud at first glance!
Just look at those hammer marks on the hook, obviously done in an unbelievably unprofessional way, and carried out with the narrow edge of the hammer, instead of using the blunt side!

Another blunt effrontery is the so-called 'gunsmith's mark', 'struck' on the hook; it represents a Gothic p miniscule, and the catalog description identified it as the mark of the Nuremberg workshop of Pehaim.
FACTS:
- 1. All the Pehaims (Behaims) were bronze founders, none of them was a gunsmith or a blacksmith, ever!
- 2. Actually, this mark is a primitive forgery of the Gothic p miniscule mark of the Nuremberg Pegnitzer workshop. All Pegnitzers also were bronze founders, none of them ever made a wrought-iron barrel!

With only the least sense of responsibility, Hermann Historica's catalog description cannot be called anything else but completely incompetent and sailing close to the wind of crime outrageously!

ANY PROSPECTIVE BUYERS of early pieces BEWARE!!!!
Those plain guns can be forged either partly or completely very easily, and it usually takes a lot more expertise to tell the wrong from the right than it does in the case of this 'gun' in discussion.

I usually and regularly watch all relevant international auctions, minutely and critically searching them for items of my expertise. And I have been a regular subscriber to all relevant printed catalogs from all the big sales firms for almos 40 years. In my library are auction catalogs back as far as the 1890's!!!
You won't believe how many forgeries, both part and complete, there are on the market; I would roughly say, about 60-70 per cent!!!
If only it were allowed to post auctions before they are over, I could warn people on the forum ...


Now have fun reading, and please do comment!


Best,
Michael