Wheel-Lock Hunting Pistol (1578): Art, History and Details

Wheel-Lock Hunting Pistol (1578) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

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

The walnut stock of this pistol is inlaid with engraved stag horn in the form of interlacing foliage and arabesques interspersed with putti, birds, and animals—an elegant weapon befitting a noble patron. Since pistols of this type could deliver only one shot and had to be reloaded to fire the next round, they were commonly made in pairs to be worn in leather holsters. The large ball-shaped pommel on the grip made it easier to withdraw the pistol from its holster, and also served as a counterweight to a heavy steel barrel. Additionally, the pommel became a useful weapon when the firing mechanism failed or when close quarters required its use.

Object facts

• Title: Wheel-Lock Hunting Pistol
• Date: 1578
• Culture: South Germany, 16th century
• Type: Arms and Armor
• Technique: steel, walnut stock with engraved stag horn; ball butt
• Dimensions: Overall: 54.6 cm (21 1/2 in.); Barrel: 31.8 cm (12 1/2 in.); Bore: 1.4 cm (9/16 in.)
• Collection: MED - Arms & Armor
• Department: Medieval Art
• Accession number: 1916.672

A detail from the museum

In this time period nobles bred dogs to help them hunt boars; on the barrel of this gun, a boar is shown charging a dog.

Collection credit

Gift of Mr. and Mrs. John L. Severance

Further reading listed by the museum

• Catalogue of Arms and Armour. [Boston, Massachusetts]: [Frank Gair Macomber], 1900.
• 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.
• Cleveland Museum of Art, and Helen Ives Gilchrist. Handbook of the Severance Collection of Arms and Armor. 2d ed., 1948.

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.