Cleveland Museum of Art

Tschinki (Wheel-Lock Hunting Rifle)

Date

c. 1630–50

Medium

steel with traces gilding; walnut stock inlaid with bone, stag horn, mother-of-pearl

Culture

Poland, Silesia, 17th century

Department

Medieval Art

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

This type of hunting gun owes its name to the town of Teschen in Silesia (now southern Poland) which, as early as 1580, was already associated with a particular type of gun. The precise date of the invention of the Tschinke is unknown, though a dated example of 1610 survives in the Imperial Armouries in Vienna. At over four feet long, this rifle's scale is only outdone by the fine details of the gilding and inlaid precious materials. This weapon is known for the region in which it was made and popularized.

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