Thomas Del Mar - Arms & Armour

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A FINE GERMAN WHEEL-LOCK SPORTING RIFLE, SIGNED
BY THE STOCKMAKER WB, DATED 1591
with octagonal swamped sighted barrel rifled with seven
grooves, stamped with the barrelsmith’s mark (perhaps
Neue Støckel 8474) and chiselled with a band of beadwork
over the breech, flat lock with later engraving fitted with
external wheel, sliding pan-cover with button release, flashguard
and pierced dog, figured fruitwood full stock
profusely inlaid with staghorn plaques including elaborate
hunting scenes on each side of the fore-end, Leda and the
Swan, an amourous couple above the inscription ‘ wald
dich mein, ich frei mich deim’ and the initials ‘W.B.’
opposite the lock, Adam waking after the creation of Eve
within a strapwork cartouche on the cheek-piece,
accompanied by various animals including a washing cat
and a monkey playing the bag-pipes, a bear roasting a
wurst on the spine of the butt, and a bear hunting scene
above an inscription including the date behind the lock, the
principle scenes annotated in Latin and German, all within
segmental lines and enriched with staghorn pellets, the
barrel tang, trigger-plate and butt all with strapwork
borders, the butt with sliding patchbox-cover overlaid with
a piece of staghorn engraved en suite (worn), engraved
horn butt-plate, ramrod-pipe and fore-end cap, steel
trigger-guard engraved with a squirrel (probably later) and
shaped for the fingers, and associated horn-tipped wooden
ramrod (minor restorations, the engraving worn in places,
heavily varnished throughout)
82cm; 32D in barrel
£7000-9000