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Triple-Barrel Revolving Flintlock Fowling Piece from the Gun Cabinet of the Princes of Liechtenstein

A work made of steel, brass, walnut, and horn.
CC0 Public Domain Designation

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  • A work made of steel, brass, walnut, and horn.

Date:

c. 1650

Artist:

Gunsmith: Tilman Kevcks (German)

About this artwork

When hunting fowl in flight, it was difficult to aim fast enough to get another shot with a second gun. This early flintlock fowling piece was designed to solve this problem. To get a quick second shot, and even a third, the hunter reset the cock, withdrew the lever in front of the trigger to release the barrels, manually rotated to the next charged barrel, and pulled the trigger again.

Triple-barrel guns are exceptionally rare, as the weight typically rendered them too cumbersome. This gun, however, with its fine craftsmanship and thin-walled barrels, is actually the lightest fowling piece in this case.

Status

On View, Gallery 239

Department

Applied Arts of Europe

Artist

Tilman Keuks

Title

Triple-Barrel Revolving Flintlock Fowling Piece from the Gun Cabinet of the Princes of Liechtenstein

Place

Germany (Object made in)

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

1640–1660

Medium

Steel, brass, walnut, and horn

Dimensions

L. 141.3 cm (55 5/8 in.) Barrel L. 101.4 cm (39 7/8 in.) Wt. 6 lb. 4 oz. Caliber .47

Credit Line

George F. Harding Collection

Reference Number

1982.2307

IIIF Manifest  The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

Learn more.

https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/106446/manifest.json

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

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