Wheel-Lock from a Hunting Rifle (c. 1720–40): Art, History and Details

Wheel-Lock from a Hunting Rifle (c. 1720–40) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

At the beginning of the 1500s a new type of ignition system was invented: the wheel-lock, the first self-igniting mechanism for guns. This type of ignition involved a piece of iron pyrites held in the jaws of a cock. When the trigger was pulled the pyrites pressed against the serrated edge of a prewound revolving wheel, creating a shower of sparks that ignited priming powder in a pan on top of the lock. This action sent a flash of flame through the vent hole to explode the main charge in the breech of the barrel. Originally part of a deluxe hunting rifle, the lock plate's entire surface is engraved in a chaotic scene. Combating cavaliers, Turks, acanthus leaves, and trophies cover every bit of space.

Object facts

• Title: Wheel-Lock from a Hunting Rifle
• Date: c. 1720–40
• Culture: Germany, Munich, 18th century
• Type: Arms and Armor
• Technique: steel, engraved
• Dimensions: Overall: 29.2 x 11.7 cm (11 1/2 x 4 5/8 in.)
• Collection: MED - Arms & Armor
• Department: Medieval Art
• Accession number: 1916.40

A detail from the museum

The engraver's signature, I.C. Stenglin Sr., can be seen on the edge running vertically.

Collection credit

Gift of Mr. and Mrs. John L. Severance

Further reading listed by the museum

• Catalogue of Arms and Armour. Vol. 4, 17th to 19th century and a few pieces of iron work. [Boston, Massachusetts]: [Frank Gair Macomber], [1900-1915].
• Gilchrist, Helen Ives. A Catalogue of the Collection of Arms & Armor Presented to the Cleveland Museum of Art by Mr. and Mrs. John Long Severance; 1916-1923. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1924.
• Fliegel, Stephen N. Arms and Armor: The Cleveland Museum of Art. [Cleveland, Ohio]: The Museum, 1998.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.