MATCHLOCK GUN

Polish, ca. 1700.
Hunting rifle, octagonal barrel, German, signed "...THIGER A WIRTZBVRG" with seven riflings, Cal. 14 mm. Iron sights. Matchlock, rounded lock plate, pan with fire screen and sliding cover. Triple-fingered iron trigger guard. Dark-brown tinted stock with old restored break, small butt with slide, decorative bone inlays, one plate missing. Riveted plates as ramrod guides, wooden ramrod.
L 111.5 cm.

Rare Polish hunting rifle with a stock reminiscent of the Bohemian "Tschinken" (also known as "Teschinke"); on display at the Polish Museum in Rapperswil until 2020. The Würzburg gunsmith responsible for the re-used barrel could not be identified. Cf. Armes anciennes des Collections Suisses, Catalogue Musée Rath, Geneva, 1972, p. 72, No. 351.