Wheellock Rifle
ca. 1650–60
Medium
Steel, silver, wood (red beech), staghorn, mother of pearl
Dimensions
L. 42 3/4 in. (108.6 cm); Cal. 17/32 in. (13.5 mm); L. of barrel 30 7/8 in. (78.4 cm); L. of trigger 8 1 4/ in. (21 cm); Wt. 7 lb. 11 oz. (3500 g)
Classification
Firearms-Guns-Wheellock
Culture
Silesian, Cieszyn
Department
Arms and Armor
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Rogers Fund, 1904
Accession Number
04.3.163
Art Historical Context
Step into the intricate world of 17th-century arms craftsmanship with this stunning wheellock rifle, crafted around 1650–60 by the skilled Silesian gunsmith Johannes Hartel in Cyn (modern-day Poland-Czech border region). Measuring nearly 43 inches long and weighing over 7 pounds, this firearm exemplifies the blend of lethal engineering and opulent artistry from a time of European conflicts, including the waning years of the Thirty Years' War Housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Arms and Armor department, it entered the collection via the Rogers Fund in 1904. The wheellock mechanism, a h...