Flintlock Boar Rifle

The heavy, octagonal barrel is blued and mounted with front and rear sights; its bore is rifled with seven grooves. At the breech, tang, and sights, the barrel is chiseled with rocailles against a gilt background and is inlaid with gold and silver; amidst the decoration on the breech is a hunter with his dog, inlaid in silver-gilt. On the underside of the barrel is a barrelsmith's mark, HIW, and below, the letter Z, possibly for Zella, an arms-producing center in Thüringen, Germany, which exported barrels and gun parts all over Europe.

The flintlock of conventional French type is provided with a hair trigger for precision shooting. The lock plate is decorated with the scene of a boar hunt, inlaid in silver and multi-colored gold.

The walnut stock has a patch box and is embellished with carved rocailles and floral motifs at the tang, rear ramrod pipe, and butt. Heavy mounts of gilt-brass are profusely chiseled with rococo patterns and hunting scenes amid landscapes. The figure of a flying bird on the sliding patch-box cover serves as a button to unlock the box.

Heavy rifles of this type were widely used in central Europe in deer hunting, as well as for chasing other big game such as bear and wild board. Though unsigned, this gun may have been made in Carlsbad, whose arms were especially popular because of their quality and their attractive, colorful decoration using blued steel or dark wood in contrast with bright gilt mounts ornamented with hunting motifs.