AN EXTREMELY RARE MEDIEVAL BRONZE HANDROHR

The handrohr is one of the earliest forms of European handheld firearms. The closest comparable example to the present handrohr is preserved in the Livrustkammaren, Stockholm (inv. no. 28853 (1194)). Dated to 1350-1400 and known as the ‘Mörkö Gun’, this small bronze handrohr is ornamented with script, a bearded head and has a small hackbut-type hook. Whilst plain examples in both bronze and iron are occasionally encountered, decorated examples are extremely scarce and it is likely that the faces cast into the present example held a religious significance. A handrohr, now lost, dated to 1322 and bearing a Greek cross with oak leaves was held in the Cloister of Sant’Orsola, Mantua and it is known that the Deutschen Ordensritter had procured a significant quantity of bronze hand firearms by around 1400.