Linstock ca. 1580 Italian The complex head of this weapon comprises the following elements (from top to bottom): a short triangular blade with convex sides, pierced along the center with two slits; a circular medallion, chiseled in low relief at the center with a figure of a warrior in Roman armor, and framed by pierced foliate scrolls; two S-shaped arms terminating in stylized dragonheads whose curled tongues serve as match holders; and a circular socket with two straps, fit at the top with six semicircular prongs, each chiseled with a face in the center. The iron surfaces, except for the tip
Linstock ca. 1580 Italian The complex head of this weapon comprises the following elements (from top to bottom): a short triangular blade with convex sides, pierced along the center with two slits; a circular medallion, chiseled in low relief at the center with a figure of a warrior in Roman armor, and framed by pierced foliate scrolls; two S-shaped arms terminating in stylized dragonheads whose curled tongues serve as match holders; and a circular socket with two straps, fit at the top with six semicircular prongs, each chiseled with a face in the center. The iron surfaces, except for the tip of the blade, are chiseled on a punched background and gilt; the ornament on the blade and socket includes stylized foliage and warriors within the decorative halberds, glaives, and partisans with which palace bodyguards were armed, the linstock was strictly a military weapon. Its two arms, or prongs, held the smoldering matches used for igniting cannon, while the short blade also allowed it to be used as a weapon if necessary. Elaborate linstocks such as this one also served as a badge of rank for master gunners and artillery punched and chiseled decoration of this piece recalls comparable decoration found on late sixteenth- and early seventeeth-century Italian armors. Two similar linstocks are in the Musée de l'Armée, Paris, and, like this example, have their match holders appropriately shaped as fire-breating Linstock 26684
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