Wheelock Puffer for a Boy
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This rare pair of pistols probably belonged to a boy. Typical of German gun design of the late 1500s, the inlaid staghorn on the fruitwood stocks depicts hounds chasing rabbits. The arms of Saxony are inlaid into the butt of each pistol. The accompanying patron, or case for cartridges, includes an interlaced pattern of ballflower tendrils. Its silver lid features birds of prey.
This type of firearm is known as a wheellock pistol, so called because it uses a spring-loaded wheel to ignite gunpowder within the barrel of the gun. The mechanism was a major development in firearms in the early 1500s. Considered the first self-igniting firearm, the technology transformed the size and portability of pistols. Wheellock pistols required many accessories to operate and maintain. One essential piece was the patron, which aided loading of the firearm.
The Saxon Electoral Armouries at Dresden;
Sotheby’s, New York, 11 January 1994, lot 536 (single pistol);
Christie’s, London, 16 December 1999, lot 344 (single pistol);
Greg Martin Auctions, San Francisco, 6 November 2006, lot 245 (same pistol that was sold in 1994; the buyer at the 1999 sale apparently reunited the two with this purchase);
With Peter Finer Antique Arms and Armour, London by 2014;
Purchased from Peter Finer Antique Arms and Armour by The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 2014.
