3360

SUPERB ELABORATELY INLAID 17TH CENTURY AUSTRIAN

Currency:USD Category:Firearms & Military Start Price:6,000.00 USD Estimated At:12,000.00 - 18,000.00 USD
SUPERB ELABORATELY INLAID 17TH CENTURY AUSTRIAN

WHEEL-LOCK SPORTING RIFLE DATED 1659. Cal. 80. NSN. A Superb elaborately Inlaid 17th Century Austrian Sporting Rifle Dated 1659. The lock with internal wheel very finely and deeply etched with birds amid foliage, the concealed wheel etched with the Imperial Hapsburg double headed eagle. The hammer superbly engraved in the form of a toothed dragon. The swamped, blued octagonal barrel is engraved “ANNO CHRISTI 1659” and struck with a maker’s mark on the left flat near the breech. The figured walnut full stock is exquisitely and lavishly inlaid throughout its length with tendrils and panels of scrimshawed white stag horn of exceptional quality enhanced with engraved mother of pearl leaves, blossoms and roundels. The cheek-rest features an incredibly detailed standing archer shooting a fierce dragon through the head. The butt-plate depicts a dog biting the head of a wolf in unusually fine detail. The engraved inlays of this work of art wheellock rifle are of such quality and detail that it surpasses most mid-17th century wheellock sporting rifles. CONDITION: the inlays are excellent throughout with little if any loss of detail and only one thin tendril missing. The lock is excellent retaining much of its original polish. The barrel retains considerable thinning period bluing. This lovely Austrian wheellock must have been preserved in a royal or noble gewehrkammer and has been justifiably prized for its beauty for nearly four centuries. (01-21894/MZ). ANTIQUE. $12,000-18,000.