A Very Rare English Tudor Snaphaunce Pistol. 21” overall, 13 ½” three stage barrel of slight hog's back form to the bulbous muzzle & with three turned girdles, the two forward of the octagonal breech with remains of brass overlay, notched back sight, plain tang, flat lock retained by 3 screws, beaked tail, flat cock & steel, the former with buffer secured by a screw, pan with sliding cover & circular fence, the latter with traces of silvering. Full stock with rounded pommel & traces of incised decoration, iron trigger guard & trigger. Iron ramrod with notched tip.
Circa 1585-1600
Believed to be the earliest surviving English Snaphaunce pistol.
In remarkable condition considering its age, trigger guard and trigger working life replacement, Stock split in front of the lock
Ex Geoffrey Jenkinson Collection
Exhibited at Sotheby's London, exhibition catalogue, ‘English Silver Treasures From The Kremlin, A Loan Exhibition, 1-28 January 1991’, pp. 86-87, no. 58 (illustrated in colour)
Literature : Ian Eaves, 'Some Notes and Further Notes on the Pistol in Early 17th Century England', J.A.A.S., Vol. VI, No. 10 (June 1970) and Vol. VIII, No. 4 (December 1975), pp. 269-329, pls. CIII and CIV