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Lot 238 PROPERTY OF THE WUNSCH FOUNDATION
A PEWTER-MOUNTED ENAMELLED GLASS DATED 'PISTOL' FLASK (SCHERZGEFÄSS)
1596, PROBABLY SAXON OR BOHEMIAN
Closed4 December 2012
Price Realised
GBP 5,000
More Information
Specialist note
See Brigitte Klesse and Axel von Saldern, 500 Jahre Glaskunst Sammlung Biemann, Zürich, 1978, p. 318, no. 274B for a clear-glass example enamelled with the Electoral arms of Saxony. The present flask (like the 1610 blue-glass example) is accurately enamelled with the wheel-lock mechanism, the spring-loaded dog, the wheel, the pan cover, even the safety catch are all recorded in detail.
The wheel-lock pistol was invented in Europe in about 1500 and was a popular design throughout the 16th century, eventually being superseded by the snaphance and flintlock mechanism of the late 16th and 17th centuries.
The wheel-lock pistol was invented in Europe in about 1500 and was a popular design throughout the 16th century, eventually being superseded by the snaphance and flintlock mechanism of the late 16th and 17th centuries.