"Organ" Gun
Culture
Austrian
Date1600s
Mediumiron and wood with traces of paint
Dimensions50.8 × 32.4 × 8.9 cm, 22 mm (20 × 12 3/4 × 3 1/2 ×.87 cal ), 47 lbs, 10 oz (weight)
ClassificationsArms and Armor
Credit LineThe John Woodman Higgins Armory Collection
Object number2014.459
Description4 heavy iron barrels average 22mm bore (.87 caliber). Barrels mounted onto stout rectangular plank-like stock of oak (?), reinforced with crude, nailed-on iron plates. Each barrel with touch-hole. Large hole in stock at about one-third distance from muzzle. On proper right side ends of stock are strong nail-like rods pierced & fitted with wedges. These probably mounting points for battery when fitted to mounting block. Similar batteries are known to have been fitted in groups of 4 to faces of rotating cube. Barrels could be older than stock. Rightmost barrel different from the other three.Label TextAs early as the 1300s, multibarreled guns were in use as a way to increase firepower on the battlefield. But weapons like these were heavy, and best suited as antipersonnel arms mounted in fortifications or on ships. The hole in the middle of the board on this unit was for a mounting of this sort.ProvenancePurchased by John W. Higgins on September 28, 1929 from estate of Bashford Dean (Riverdale, NY), his no. 8. Given to the Museum on January 8, 1947. Collection transfer from Higgins Armory, January 2014.
On View
Not on viewCollections
late 1700s-early 1800s
