Wheellock Pistol

By the end of the sixteenth century, the arms trade in Nuremberg had begun to weaken. Armorers and etchers applied their skills to broader markets by producing pistols like this, and all-steel caskets for safekeeping valuables. The etched figures, birds, and hunting scenes on this pistol derive from printed pattern books by Nuremberg artists Virgil Solis and Jost Amman.