Priming Flask/Spanner

ca. 1570–80

On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 375

This priming flask/spanner is decorated to match a pair of wheellock pistols also in the Metropolitan Museum's collection (acc. no. 14.25.1433a,b). The pistols are remarkable for the chiseled and gilt decoration of the barrels and locks, for the distinctive figural and floral inlay on the stocks, which is copied in part from ornament engravings by Etienne Delaune (1518/19–1583), and for the use of red paint to highlight the stock decoration. The survival of the matching priming flask is also exceptional for a pistol from this early date.

Artwork Details

Overview

Provenance

Exhibition History

References

Title: Priming Flask/Spanner
Date: ca. 1570–80
Culture: French
Medium: Steel, gold, silver
Dimensions: L. 5 7/8 in. (14.9 cm)
Classification: Firearms Accessories-Flasks & Primers
Credit Line: Gift of William H. Riggs, 1913
Object Number: 14.25.1523
Curatorial Department: Arms and Armor

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Pair of Wheellock Pistols with Matching Priming Flask/Spanner, Etienne Delaune French, Steel, gold, silver, brass, wood (walnut), staghorn, brass wire, pigment, French — Pair of Wheellock Pistols with Matching Priming Flask/Spanner
Etienne Delaune
ca. 1570–80

Pair of Wheellock Pistols, Etienne Delaune French, Steel, gold, silver, brass, wood (walnut), staghorn, pigment, French — Pair of Wheellock Pistols
Etienne Delaune
ca. 1570–80

Flintlock Gun, Louis Jaley French, Steel, gold, wood, silver, French, Saint-Etienne — Flintlock Gun
Multiple artists/makers
dated 1735

Double-Barreled Percussion Shotgun, Louis Perrin French, Steel, wood (walnut), silver, French, Paris — Double-Barreled Percussion Shotgun
Louis Perrin
Léopold Bernard
dated 1854

Cased Set of a Flintlock Rifle, a Pair of Pistols, and Accessories, Nicolas Noël Boutet French, Steel, wood (walnut, mahogany), silver, gold, horn, velvet, French, Versailles — Cased Set of a Flintlock Rifle, a Pair of Pistols, and Accessories
Nicolas Noël Boutet
ca. 1800

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