A PEWTER-MOUNTED ENAMELLED GLASS DATED 'PISTOL' FLASK (SCHERZGEFÄSS)

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pistol was invented in Europe in about 1500 and was a popular design throughout the 16th century, eventually being superseded by the snaphance and flintlock mechanism of the late 16th and 17th centuries.