Multitool, possibly for a wheellock firearm
Culture
European
Date16th century
Mediumiron
Dimensions5.4 × 16.2 cm (2 1/8 × 6 3/8 in.), 1.5 oz (weight)
ClassificationsArms and Armor
Credit LineThe John Woodman Higgins Armory Collection
Object number2014.513
DescriptionIron combination tool handle & sculptor's or machinist's tool? Compare HAM 1921.1-3 (deaccessioned). Of "T" shape recurving at ends which are alternately bluntly pointed & flattened; both ends striated on 1 face. Center of body is balustered with right angle socket of octagonal section & oblate knop at join of tool. This socket is fitted with spring-loaded catch suggesting that tool served as form of multi-purpose handle for various inserts. Given close similarities between this & pieces noted above & the inappropriate size of socket itself if piece was a spanner, this too may be a sculptor's tool.Label TextBy the 1600s, the usual weapons of cavalry were swords and firearms. The most common firearms were a pair of pistols or a short musket called a carbine. Cavalry firearms used either a flintlock ignition, or a wheel-lock. The spring-loaded wheel was given a turn, or “spanned,” with a special wrench like this one, called a spanner. Pulling the trigger released the wheel, which struck sparks from a piece of pyrite in a manner loosely similar to a cigarette lighter. ProvenancePurchased by Museum on March 30, 1933 from Sumner Healey (NYC), his no. 9938. Collection transfer from Higgins Armory, January 2014.
On View
Not on view
about 1600–1650
