Extraordinary Michael Maucher German Flintlock Sporting Rifle with Magnificent Raised Relief Carved Stock with Documentation Offered here is a German flintlock sporting rifle with magnificent high relief carved stock portraying the Greek myth of Artemis and Actaeon. As the story goes, the young hunter Actaeon stumbled across Artemis taking a bath in her secret grotto in the woods. Angered by this invasion of privacy, Artemis turned Actaeon into a stag. He was then devoured by his own hunting dogs. The rifle has been dated from 1690 to 1700. According to a letter from Brian M. Powers, Inc., dealer of fine arms, armour and related objects out of Nevada City, California, the rifle is said to have come from the workshop of Michael Maucher of Gmund, a municipality in the district of Miesbach in Bavaria, Germany. The blacksmith "*I*R*" barrel marking was not identified. A comparable example is located in the Metropolitan Museum, New York, and documented in Stephen Grancsay's article "Carved Guns Stocks by John Michael Maucher" in "The Journal of Walters Art Gallery" (1939). This article is included. The rifle is fitted with fixed sights, and the top of the barrel flat towards the breech is signed "*I*R* in large font. Engraved bands are found at the breech and muzzle, and the face of the muzzle has a dot motif. The barrel is rifled with eight grooves. The lock plate is plain with a dropped tail end. The exquisite full length stock features near full coverage of high relief Baroque foliage incorporating animal and god/goddess imagery. The patch box is carved with the birth of Aphrodite with Eros at her knee, both standing on a winged sphere. The yelling face of Actaeon is located on the underside of the buttstock. The sides of the forearm at the ramrod finial have a mythical beast head. The left stock flat features a hunting dog scene incorporating bone lock screw escutcheons. The left side of the buttstock has a seated Artemis and Actaeon holding a blank mother of pearl disk. This disk was considered a possible replacement in the Brian M. Powers, Inc. letter. The face of Eros is behind the barrel tang. His wings surround the tang. The buttstock is fitted with a plain flat steel buttplate featuring an extended tang. Formerly of the William Goodwin Renwick collection and was part of the Howard Ricketts Exhibition of Arms and Armour (4 December 1973, no. 37). Manufacturer: German Model: Flintlock BBL: 33 1/2 inch octagon Stock: walnut Gauge: 54 Finish: bright Grips: Serial Number: NSN Class: Antique Condition: Fine. The rifle has a bright appearance showing some light pin prick pitting with deeper pitting on the forend cap. The stock is also fine showing a few putty filled blemishes near the lock and trigger guard, a restored forearm (a matching 3 1/4 inch long piece of replacement wood has been added to the tip) and some minor handling marks. The forearm tip is missing. Mechanically excellent. A true work of art worthy of a fine arms museum collection. Provenance: Robert M. Lee Collection.

  • Condition: See Description

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by Rock Island Auction Company
December 3, 2016 9:00 AM CST
7819 42nd Street West
Rock Island, IL, US 61201

Rock Island Auction Company

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$5,000 $9,999 $500
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