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Title
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A large German bullet crossbow
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Collection Location
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Private collection
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Date
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c. 1590
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Location
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Nuremburg
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Description
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Wedged onto the bullet crossbow with a forged steel arch, a jagged wheel cross mark can be seen stamped on the inner right side of the bow. The hemp string has two wooden spacers and a leather ball bag for lead balls in it. The iron body is decorated with incised leaf decoration, and the hinged tensioning lever in the middle has the brand "PS" stamped on top. The levered cocking mechanism has a single-pronged nut and a functional hair trigger with an iron trigger guard forked at the base. The riveted inserted sight fork in the middle corresponds with the iron folding rear sight with rear sight on the top edge. The trigger guard featured beaded elements, and seems to be riveted onto the original body. The stock is wooden and red-brown stained, decorated with three engraved leg medallions, on which a female costume figure, a jumping lion and a jumping dog, each framed by filigree inlaid brass tendrils, the edges decorated with leg veins near the iron butt cap.
Hermann Historica adds that comparative pieces with the PS mark (probably for Paulus Seierlein, palester maker in Nuremberg, died in 1606) can be found, among others, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, in the Hallwylska Museet Stockholm, in the Germanic National Museum in Nuremberg and in private collections. The horsepower mark and the serrated wheel mark can both be traced to Nuremberg.
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Source
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Hermann Historica
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Crossbow Top Measurements
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72.8cm
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Crossbow Side Measurements
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43cm
