Acta Universitatis Lodziensis Folia Archaeologica 29/2012

Acta Universitatis Lodziensis Folia Archaeologica 29/2012 Piotr Strzyż Kalina Skóra “Muskets and handgonnes inlaid with bone” – ornaments of hand-held firearms in the 16th–17 th centuries Keywords Słowa kluczowe - : decorative art, Central Europe, firearms, matchlock, renaissance art : zdobnictwo, Europa Środkowa, broń palna, zamek lontowy, sztuka re nesansowa T echnological developments and more and more advanced differencesth - between particular kinds of firearms led already in the 15 century to the origin of workshops of gunsmiths, who specialised in the manufacture of hand-held firearms. This new craft developed intensively in the next century. Gunsmith masters were initially associated in guilds togeth er with cutlers, blacksmiths or clockmakers. However, they soon became independent and divided into further specialised branches, such as barrel, gunstock or lock makers (Kobielski 1975, p. 59; Szymczak 2004, pp. 87–88; Nowakowski 2011, p. 150). The earliest types of hand-held firearms were not only rather prone to damage, but also quite uncomfortable and relatively expensive in use. Firing the new weapon was particularly troublesome, and it could be done in two ways. In the case of smaller, which naturally meant lighter, specimens, the gunman could hold the weapon under his right armpit and elbow and fire- the charge with his left hand. In the case of barrels, which were heavier and of larger calibre, and could therefore not be held under the armpit, anoth er person was needed. When the gunman held the weapon ready to fire, his- assistant touched the priming powder with a glowing rod or slow match. In- both cases it was a difficult task, as one needed to touch a point with a diam- eter of a few millimetres (Durdík 1979, p. 4). These complications, less sig nificant in a battlefield or during a siege, rendered the use of firearms im- possible for sport or hunting aims, when one had to firend at moving targets.th A certain improvement can be seen as late as the 2 half of the 15 cen tury, when barrels started to be provided with primitive matchlocks. It was- an S-shaped bar, a so-called “serpentine”, where the slow match was placed into one of its ends, and the other end acted as a trigger. This partially re “Muskets and handgonnes inlaid with bone”... 279 - - lieved the shooter’s attention, and he was more able to concentrate on aim ing (Kobielski 1975, p. 39). Shooting at moving targets also became possi ble, as it can be said based on a record from the archive of the town of Cheb- from 1459. Local shooters were provided with funds for shooting by the- town council, and in the said year expenses were recorded “fur einen si beren ryngk, hett man den puchsenschuzcen, darumb zu schiessen auffge wurffen” (Durdík 1965, pp. 542–543; 1979, p. 5). - Further progress in the development of hand-held firearms was marked- by the invention of weapons1 provided with wheellocks and their introduc tion into popular use . This kind of weapon was on the one hand more com- plicated with regard to its construction, but it was permanently ready to fire and it relieved the shooter of a burdensome need to take care of a glow ing slow match or a kettle full of charcoal (Szymczak 2004, pp. 50–51; Strzyż 2008, pp. 132,th 136). - In the 16 century, the development of hand-held firearms went in two- separate directions. The first one was production for the needs of the mili tary. The increase in importance of professional mercenary troops necessi- tated weapons, which were cheap to manufacture, easy to use and capable of being supplied in large quantities. The arquebus or the musket provid ed with a matchlock met these requirements, and these weapons were used in battlefields as late as the Thirty Years War (1618–1648) (Kobielski 1975, p. 59; Żygulski 1975, p. 160; Biernacki 2006, pp. 36–39). Weapons manufactured for the needs of an individual customer were a completely different matter. Such weapons were supposed to be not only- infallible, but they were also to distinguish their owners from the crowd- of similar men. Therefore, in this case there was no room for standardisa tion, but rather for artistry and lavishness of ornamentation. Such weapons were, as already mentioned, manufactured by gunsmiths, but also by gunstock makers and wood-carvers, gunstock makers-engravers and gold smiths. The latter were supposed to ornament the weapon with “gilding, engraving, all kind of stamping, coating in brown, encrusting, polishing, dying, with bone, various paints, and thencrusting with mother-of-pearl”- (Kobielski 1975, p. 59). In the mid-16 century, mentions of expensive specimens of parade firearms start to appear in the inventories of nobility’s testaments. Although in Poland it was the edged weapons that were- still considered the most important, e.g., carabellas or so-called Hungari an sabres, proportions of firearms among possessed weapons were grow ing. It was the result of both the appreciation of the importance of these 1 For more data on its construction see Szymczak 2004, pp. 50–51; Strzyż 2011a, pp. 660–662, fig. 3; 2011b, pp. 345–346, fig. 1, with information on previous scholarship. 280 Piotr Strzyż, Kalina Skóra - new weapons in possible battlefields and the artistic qualities these weapons could be provided with. th In the ornamentation of hand-held firearms from the 16 century on wards, techniques hitherto used for ornamenting of swords, crossbows or staff-weapons started to be applied. Metal elements of weapons, that is, first of all, the lock plate, but also the barrel, were especially convenient places to apply various kinds of ornamentation. On the other hand, the gunstock, which was usually made of wood, was inlaid with organic materials, such as horn, bone and mother-of-pearl, but also with precious metals (Żygulski 1975, pp. 167, 286–287). The earliest records of privately owned specimens of hand-held firearmsnd - can be foundth in the inventories of burghers of Kraków as early as the 2 half of the 15 century (Wilk-Woś 2001, p. 75). It is, however, firstth inth the sourc- es concerning personal weapons of the nobility from the 16 –17 centuries- that we can notice their very frequent occurrence. Forth instance, in posthu mous records of Greater Poland’s nobility from the 17 century, firearms ap pear in 2/3 of all the documents. Quite often in one nobility’s residence even a dozen or so or a few dozens of specimens were recorded (Pośpiech 1992,- p. 111; 1999, p. 191). In the inventory recorded in Kiekrz after the death of Chrystian Kierski Castellane of Rogoźno, the mountaineer-stylefollowing firearms were ‘tschink mentioned:es’ “fivepowder pairs horns of pistols ornamented and three with «flint» silver rifles, two muskets and six «wheellock» bandolier guns as well as two « with »” (Pośpiech 1992, pp. 76, 79, 83). A considerable popularity of hand-held firearms can be also seen in burgher houses. E.g., after the death of a Poznań furrier Andrzej Rozman in 1627, the following weapons remained: “one pair of short small handgonnes, a pair of small half-hakes, a pair of tschinke bird rifles, onea large pistol, musket a long bird in- laidrifle withand a bonepowder flask with a key”. What was recorded after the death of a municipalhandgonne scribe Wojciechinlaid with Rochowicz bone in 1635, was “ , , a long smaller musket, a bird-rifle, 2 long half-hakes (...), a long , , a carbine with a belt, a bird rifle with a belt, some smaller carbines,a pistol a muswithket, a red three holster equal half-hakes with belts, two identical pistols, four various handgonnes, an ornamentedInwentarze... pistol, one bird rifle, two carbines, , a small wooden shield, seven various cartridge2 pouches, four duelling powder flasks” ( 1981, pp. 419, 500–501) . 2 For the sake of comparison, an Elbląg brewer Hans Noge in 1667 left two muskets, three pairs of pistols, three handgonnes (including two bird rifles, a carbine, a bandolier gun and a leather pouch for ammunition, a leather bag for shots, a bone powder flask as well as “Muskets and handgonnes inlaid with bone”... 281 In other territories of the Commonwealth of Both Nations the situation was similar. Documentary evidence from Halych from 1696 can serve as an- example. At the end of April, brothers Bazyli and Jan Hołyński Bakajewicz brought an action at the local castle court against their sister-in-law Tere- sa Giedyminówna, Krzysztof’s widow. They charged her with appropriation of movable property left by the deceased, which was due to them. Both doc uments vary a great deal with regard to their contents, but,beautiful concerning small the ivoryissue ofpowder interest flask in this with paper, embroidery both brothers said that the deceased had left 21 items of firearms (the widow mentioned 12 only) and a “ ” (according to the widow “a small- ivory powder flask” only) (Pośpiech 1992, p. 23). th th - At present, hand-held firearms which are dated to the 16 –17 centu ries are kept in quite large quantities in museums. These firearms, however, are often anonymous, as it is quite seldom that any data on their user (or- users) are known. Furthermore, the chronology of such firearms is deter mined in a very general way only. The largest stores of weapons were ob- viously kept at magnates’ residences, but petty nobility did not stay behind and their arsenals are often mentioned in testaments and inheritance re cords. Wealthier representatives of urban patriciate, e.g., in Lviv, Kraków, Gdańsk and Elbląg, also possessed a few items of firearms, both short and long ones.

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