28th Jun, 2023 12:00
Antique Arms, Armour & Militaria
364
‡ A FINE AND RARE PAIR OF 40 BORE GERMAN WHEEL-LOCK HOLSTER PISTOLS STOCKED BY THE SO-CALLED MEISTER DER TIERKOPFRANKE, SECOND QUARTER OF THE 17TH CENTURY
with octagonal barrels engraved with scrolls within triangular panels at the breeches, medians and behind the muzzles, the remaining surface chiselled with delicate scrolls and minute flowerheads against a very finely cross-hatched ground and with minute traces of early gold damascene, integral tangs decorated en suite, bevelled locks retained by two quick release screws, fitted with external wheels retained by a bracket, sliding pan-covers and moulded dogs, decorated en suite with the barrels and retaining minute traces of early gold damascene, full stocks carved with foliage and moulded over the fore-ends (small repairs), the ramrod-pipe aperture covered with a demi-figure issuant with scrolling tendrils, panels of leafy tendrils beneath the breech, a stylised bird-of-prey and a monsterhead scroll opposite the locks, a panel of scale ornament beneath, the tangs enclosed by a large panel filled with a bouquet of flowers and scrolling tendrils, the butts with a triangular panel filled with further scrollwork on each side and a grotesque on the spine, the principal panels all enriched with a finely matted ground and framed by minute circles, iron mounts comprising trigger-guards and faceted butt caps each with a very finely cross hatched ground and previously damascened, moulded iron ramrod-pipe, iron fore-end cap, and associated iron-tipped ramrods (one shortened), 32.8 cm barrels (2)
Provenance
John Wigington, sold Parke-Bernet Galleries Inc., New York, 3td October 1951, lot 221 (illustrated in catalogue and on cover)
Joe Kindig Jr. (1898-1971), thence by descent
Literature
Hans Schedelmann, Die Grossenbüchsenmacher, Braunschweig 1972, p. 98.
This remarkable anonymous gunstocker, named the master of the animal head tendril (Meister Der Tierkopfranke), was probably employed at the Imperial court in Vienna where eleven firearms attributed to him remain extant and are now preserved in the Kunsthistorisches Museum. Dated firearms suggest a period of activity between 1624-59 for this maker, or workshop. Pistols stocked in this manner are rare, two are preserved in the Belgian Royal Collection and one in the collection of the Prince of Liechtenstein. See Schedelmann, op. cit., pp. 98-99.
Part proceeds to benefit the Acquisition Fund of the Arms and Armor department, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
Sold for £19,000
with octagonal barrels engraved with scrolls within triangular panels at the breeches, medians and behind the muzzles, the remaining surface chiselled with delicate scrolls and minute flowerheads against a very finely cross-hatched ground and with minute traces of early gold damascene, integral tangs decorated en suite, bevelled locks retained by two quick release screws, fitted with external wheels retained by a bracket, sliding pan-covers and moulded dogs, decorated en suite with the barrels and retaining minute traces of early gold damascene, full stocks carved with foliage and moulded over the fore-ends (small repairs), the ramrod-pipe aperture covered with a demi-figure issuant with scrolling tendrils, panels of leafy tendrils beneath the breech, a stylised bird-of-prey and a monsterhead scroll opposite the locks, a panel of scale ornament beneath, the tangs enclosed by a large panel filled with a bouquet of flowers and scrolling tendrils, the butts with a triangular panel filled with further scrollwork on each side and a grotesque on the spine, the principal panels all enriched with a finely matted ground and framed by minute circles, iron mounts comprising trigger-guards and faceted butt caps each with a very finely cross hatched ground and previously damascened, moulded iron ramrod-pipe, iron fore-end cap, and associated iron-tipped ramrods (one shortened), 32.8 cm barrels (2)
Provenance
John Wigington, sold Parke-Bernet Galleries Inc., New York, 3td October 1951, lot 221 (illustrated in catalogue and on cover)
Joe Kindig Jr. (1898-1971), thence by descent
Literature
Hans Schedelmann, Die Grossenbüchsenmacher, Braunschweig 1972, p. 98.
This remarkable anonymous gunstocker, named the master of the animal head tendril (Meister Der Tierkopfranke), was probably employed at the Imperial court in Vienna where eleven firearms attributed to him remain extant and are now preserved in the Kunsthistorisches Museum. Dated firearms suggest a period of activity between 1624-59 for this maker, or workshop. Pistols stocked in this manner are rare, two are preserved in the Belgian Royal Collection and one in the collection of the Prince of Liechtenstein. See Schedelmann, op. cit., pp. 98-99.
Part proceeds to benefit the Acquisition Fund of the Arms and Armor department, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
Auction: Antique Arms, Armour & Militaria, 28th Jun, 2023
