  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.
  
  
  Title
  Wheellock Pistol
  
  
  Artwork Date
  ca. 1575
  
  Artist
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  Life Dates
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  Nationality
  
  
  
  Please note:
  Definitions for nationality may vary significantly, depending on chronology and world events.
  Some definitions include:
  Belonging to a people having a common origin based on a geography and/or descent and/or tradition and/or culture and/or religion and/or language, or sharing membership in a legally defined nation.
  
  
  
  German
  
  
  
  Culture
  
  
  
  Please note:
  Cultures may be defined by the language, customs, religious beliefs, social norms, and material traits of a group.
  
  
  
  
  German
  
  
  Medium
  Steel, wood, staghorn, pigment
  
  
  Dimensions
  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)
  
  
  Classification
  Arms and Armor
  
  
  Department
  European Sculpture and Dec Arts
  
  
  Credit
  Gift of the William Randolph Hearst Foundation
  
  
  
  Accession Number
  
  
  
  This unique number is assigned to an individual artwork as part of the cataloguing process at the time of entry into the permanent collection.
  Most frequently, accession numbers begin with the year in which the artwork entered the museum’s holdings.
  For example, 2008.3 refers to the year of acquisition and notes that it was the 3rd of that year. The DIA has a few additional systems—no longer assigned—that identify specific donors or museum patronage groups.
  
  
  
  53.223
  
  
  Copyright
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