About the Artwork
At least three artists working in the city of Nuremberg collaborated to create this pistol and its mate. A specialist cast and refined the barrel, which bears his maker’s mark: a rearing unicorn. A lock maker — a type of artist-engineer who crafted a range of mechanical devices — skillfully assembled the wheel-shaped firing mechanism and left his own mark (a shield bearing the initials LH above two game pieces) on its surface. After inspecting the metalwork’s quality and function, city officials stamped Nuremberg’s coat of arms alongside the lock maker’s insignia. Finally, a joiner or cabinetmaker created the wooden stock and inlaid it with finely engraved staghorn hunting scenes, allegorical figures, fantastical beasts, cupids, and scrolling ornament.
This pistol is one of a matching pair of a type called “puffers” after their spherical pommels, which would have made them easy to withdraw from holsters suspended from the sides of a rider’s saddle. Like most early firearms, these weapons could fire only one shot, and their smooth barrels meant that aim could be wildly inaccurate, leading to their frequent production in pairs to give a marksman a second chance.
Wheellock Pistol
ca. 1575
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German
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Steel, wood, staghorn, pigment
Overall: 8 3/4 × 18 1/8 × 3 1/8 inches (22.2 × 46 × 7.9 cm) Overall (barrel): 11 inches (27.9 cm) Overall (caliber): 9/16 inches (1.4 cm)
Arms and Armor
European Sculpture and Dec Arts
Gift of the William Randolph Hearst Foundation
53.223
Public Domain
Markings
Stamped, on lock plate: [Arms of Nuremberg] Stamped, on lock plate: [LH above two game pieces within an escutcheon] Stamped, on barrel: [Arms of Nuremberg] Stamped, on barrel: [a unicorn rampant]
Provenance
until 1897, [Maurice Chabières-Arles, 1829–1897] (Lyon, France)1897, by descent to his estate;
1913, purchased with entire collection en bloc by [Duveen Brothers](Paris, France).
until 1951, William Randolph Hearst [1867–1951] (New York, New York, USA);
1951, by bequest to the William Randolph Hearst Foundation;
1953-present, gift to the Detroit Institute of Arts (Detroit, Michigan, USA)
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Provenance pageExhibition History
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The exhibition history of a number of objects in our collection only begins after their acquisition by the museum, and may reflect an incomplete record.
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Robinson, Francis W. "A Gift of Arms and Armor from the Collection of William Randolph Hearst." Bulletin of the DIA 33, no. 1 (1953-1954) pp. 1-5.
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Credit Line for Reproduction
German, Wheellock Pistol, ca. 1575, steel, wood, staghorn, pigment. Detroit Institute of Arts, Gift of the William Randolph Hearst Foundation, 53.223.
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