Tschinke (wheel-lock hunting rifle)
Dateabout 1650–1675
Mediumblued and plain steel, brass, bone or ivory, mother of pearl and walnut wood
Dimensions117.5 × 92.1 cm (46 1/4 × 36 1/4 in.), 5 lb, 7 oz (weight)
ClassificationsArms and Armor
MarkingsBreech stamped with This stamped with barrelmaker's mark "IID" between pair of dots, within oval shield-shaped frame. Stockmaker's initials "AS" at base of barrel tang; see digital file.
Credit LineThe John Woodman Higgins Armory Collection
Object number2014.374
DescriptionSilesia (Teschen), modern Poland/Czech Republic. Blued steel 9mm caliber rifled barrel of octagonal section, with flared muzzle, fixed sights & lightly etched leafy candelabra at breech. Full-length, fruitwood dog-leg stock with overall stained yellow & white bone inlaid scrolls, dots, game animals & hunting scenes, & mother-of-pearl plaques. Angular, small butt with butt-trap, horn butt plate with iron spherical bumper.
Wheel-lock with typical external mainspring & setting button. Lock with [once] gilded brass pierced plates engraved with hares, flowers & grotesques. Flat lockplate, pan assembly & cock engraved with floral, animal & dragon motifs. Iron trigger guard shaped for fingers. Single trigger.
Label TextThis decorative firearm was fired not from the shoulder but with the side of the butt held tightly against the shooter's cheek. The weight of the barrel helped absorb the recoil.ProvenancePurchased by the Museum on December 3, 1931 from Ernst Schmidt (Munich, Germany), his no. 152. Collection transfer from Higgins Armory, January 2014.
On View
Not on viewCollections
late 1700s-early 1800s
