Spinning-wheel pistol, round barrel, heavily blunderbussed a - Lot 455

Spinning-wheel pistol, round barrel, heavily blunderbussed at the muzzle, engraved with thunder and muzzle foliage, stamped on the upper side with the Nuremberg coat of arms and a crowned, erect snake; the sloping sides bear the letter "P" on one side and "D" on the other, for harquebusier Peter Danner; 14 mm caliber. Outer wheel lock, engraved openwork drum, stamped with the arms of Nuremberg and the lockmaker's mark, not very legible, unidentified. Beautifully modeled stock in blackened fruitwood, adorned with finely engraved inlaid bone plates, at the ramrod entrance of a Turk, along the upper flange of four profiles of figures, on the counterplate side of a unicorn opposed to a lion holding a sphere in its mouth, all contours also adorned with friezes, foliage and braids; strong ball-shaped pommel with orange segments separated by bone fillets and seven friezes of foliage and braids; turned bone cap nail engraved with a horseman. Length 46 cm. The wheel rotation and large spring are functional. (Missing the hammer, the safety catch at the rear of the lock, two screws, one of which secures the lock, a small bone plate under the outer spring of the hammer, the pusher for opening the cockpit cover and the rod). Period, Germany, Nuremberg, circa 1590. Good condition. STOCKEL REFERENCE: Peter DANNER, Nuremberg, 1583/1602. A pistol very similar to this one was part of the Robert-Jean CHARLES collection, first sold at Drouot on Thursday May 13, 1993, no. 7.