The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 20, 2024

Combined Priming Flask and Wheel-Lock Spanner

Combined Priming Flask and Wheel-Lock Spanner

c. 1600–1650
horn with brass and steel mounts
Overall: 18.1 x 5.7 cm (7 1/8 x 2 1/4 in.)
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. John L. Severance 1916.43
Location: 210B Firearms

Did You Know?

Many accessories that were used in hunting were made of the very animals that were to be hunted, this one here was made of horn.

Description

Early firearms required many tools and accessories for their proper use and maintenance. This clever design fulfilled a dual purpose as a spanner and priming flask. Small containers like this one would hold fine-grain gunpowder used to set off (or prime) the main charge in the barrel. A spanner would be used to operate a wheel-lock mechanism that enabled a gun to fire. On the gun, the jaws of the lock clamped a piece of flint or pyrites designed to rub against the rough edge of the wheel projecting into the pan. The wheel was revolved by a tightly coiled spring wound by the spanner and released when the gun's trigger was pulled causing sparks to ignite the gunpowder in the breech.
  • -1916
    Frank Gair Macomber (1849-1941), Boston, MA, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art
    1916-
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Catalogue of Arms and Armour. Vol. 4, 17th to 19th century and a few pieces of iron work. [Boston, Massachusetts]: [Frank Gair Macomber], [1900-1915]. Mentioned and Reproduced: No. (247) 272 archive.org
    Gilchrist, Helen Ives. A Catalogue of the Collection of Arms & Armor Presented to the Cleveland Museum of Art by Mr. and Mrs. John Long Severance; 1916-1923. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1924. Mention: p. 158, F46 archive.org
    Fliegel, Stephen N. Arms and Armor: The Cleveland Museum of Art. [Cleveland, Ohio]: The Museum, 1998. p. 175, cat. no. 243
    Fliegel, Stephen N. Arms & Armor: The Cleveland Museum of Art. [Cleveland, Ohio]: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2007. p. 195, cat. no. 260
  • Armor Court Reinstallation. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer).
  • {{cite web|title=Combined Priming Flask and Wheel-Lock Spanner|url=false|author=|year=c. 1600–1650|access-date=20 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1916.43