Hunting Knife Combined with Wheellock Pistol

Hunting Knife Combined with Wheellock Pistol

Hunting Knife Combined with Wheellock Pistol

Hunting Knife Combined with Wheellock Pistol

Hunting Knife Combined with Wheellock Pistol

Hunting Knife Combined with Wheellock Pistol

In the sixteenth century, wheellock pistols sometimes were combined with swords, knives, axes, maces, spears, and even crossbows, which could be used in the event the pistol misfired. Usually clumsy and impractical, combined weapons were nevertheless highly prized curiosities. On this example, the heavy, cleaverlike blade is etched with a calendar and the decorator's name.

Provenance
Ex. coll.: Louis Carrand; Costantino Ressman; Duc de Dino, Paris (G.46).

Etcher:
Ambrosius Gemlich (German, Munich and Landshut, active ca. 1520–50)
Date:
blade ca. 1528–29, etched with a calendar for the years 1529–34; barrel dated 1540 or 1546
Geography:
Munich
Culture:
German, Munich
Medium:
Steel, gold, staghorn, bronze
Dimensions:
L. 18 1/4 in. (46.4 cm); L. of barrel 12 3/8 in. (31.4 cm); L. of blade 13 1/4 in. (33.7 cm); Cal. .28 in. (7.1 mm)
Classification:
Combination Weapons
Credit Line:
Rogers Fund, 1904

Copyright Image
https://images.metmuseum.org