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Title
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Schnepper
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HCA Identifier
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Document Number/Property ID: AK006569
Inventory number: W 55/22
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Collection Location
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Deutches Historisches Museum.
Collection: Militaria/1
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Date
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1801-1925
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Location
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Germany
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Description
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At the tip of the crossbow, there is a suspension ring. The blackened steel prod is wedged into a hole in the stock. A piece of wood is also wedged in beside it to increase pressure and secure the prod. The bolt rest is missing. There is some bonework lining the groove, though some of it is missing. The stock is made of a fine-grained light brown wood, now blemished with scratches and pressure marks. The stock is made of two pieces of wood. A diagonal glued joint is visible near the lock. On the underside, a steel plate, screws, and a bolt support the joint, but despite this, age has weakened it. The lock is a keylock. The trigger is protected with a trigger guard.
The stock is extensively decorated with bone inlay, which is sometimes darkened with linseed oil to create contrasts of black and white. The motifs include diamonds, checker patterns, dots, and some scrollwork. For example, S-shaped scrollwork curls around the lock axles. On the cheek rest, a trapezoidal piece of bone is inlaid. An eight-pointed star of bone darkened with linseed oil is also inlaid.
The angle of the photo obscures the following features. On the lower part of the cheek rest, there is a bone plate inscribed with “H. M. 1778.” Also on the cheek rest, there is the outline of a snail with foliage.
Despite the number on the inscription, the crossbow is dated to a later period, implying that the crossbow is meant to commemorate a historical event or possibly that the numbers do not represent a year.
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Source
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Sven, Lüker, and Jens Sensfelder. Die Armbrust: Schrecken und Schönheit [The Crossbow: Terror and Beauty]. Münich: Hirmer, 2020.
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Crossbow Top Measurements
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Total crossbow size:
Height: 12.1 cm
Width: 66.4 cm
Length: 79 cm
Weight: 4.400 kg
The stock of the crossbow:
Height: 8.6 cm
Width: 5.1 cm
Length: 74.3 cm
The string of the crossbow:
Length: 60 cm
Diameter: 1 cm
Additional measurements from the book Die Armbrust: Schrecken und Schönheit:
Total string length: 664mm
String length: 600mm
Middle prod cross-section: 44mm x 13.5mm
Outer prod cross-section: 28mm x 8mm
String position: approx. 70mm
String diameter: 10mm (S) / .5mm (Z)
