20 - Flintlock pistol, travelling or pocket pistol with carved walnut stock, circa 1790/1810

Flintlock pistol, travelling or pocket pistol with carved walnut stock, circa 1790/1810 Flintlock pistol (battery lock) in the format of a travelling or pocket pistol. Angular, rifled barrel up to the muzzle, calibre 12 to 13 mm. Lock plate, cock and battery with remains of fine scrolling foliage engraving; the two lock screws with brass washers on the opposite side. Full stock of walnut, extending to the muzzle, with brass muzzle cap and ramrod pipes; the stock carved with scrolling foliage in the grip area, butt cap flat, with screw, and trigger guard of brass. The light wooden ramrod in the pipes under the barrel is a later replacement. Age-appropriate, reworked condition, barrel and lock extensively pitted with corrosion, the flint missing, the stock with cracks and repairs in the grip area, mechanism functional. L. 26 cm In the developed form of the flintlock, also called battery lock, the pan cover and the steel are combined into one component, the battery: the striking flint opens the pan and strikes the spark in a single motion. This design was the dominant ignition from the middle of the 17th century into the 1840s. Small flintlock pistols with carved stock and engraved lock parts were carried in the 18th century as travelling and pocket pistols for self-defence. The pistol is a muzzle-loader with flintlock based on a model predating 1871. Under German weapons law, it may be acquired without a licence from the age of 18.