A crossbow with lavish bone inlays by Johann Bensheimer the Elder, Dresden, late 17th century

Title
A crossbow with lavish bone inlays by Johann Bensheimer the Elder, Dresden, late 17th century
Collection Location
Private collection
Date
Late 17th century
Location
Germany
Description
This bolt crossbow features a heavy, tapering steel prod, a wheel mark with a sun burst stamped onto the inside on the right. It is secured to the bow with gilt cord bridling, and green woollen pompoms decorate the front, strung with a green plait and braided hemp bowstring. The slender wooden stock is entirely covered in bone inlays, all surfaces lavishly engraved with tendrils and hunting scenes with horsemen, bears, a stag, a hare, a bird, dragons, set in landscapes with castles. Inlays of greyish-brown horn on both sides at the end of the tiller, bone butt cap. The manufacturer's signature "J. B. Senior f." (Johann Bensheimer Senior fecit) is imprinted on the underside, near the nut. The nut is made of antler, moving on the original cord pivot, or nussfaden, above which a nut band of green cloth, operated with a multi-axle lock controlled by the wrapped large trigger lever with a pompom on the end. The curved piece on the underside is stamped with a double cross pattée and the year "1569".

Hermann Historica notes that Johann Bensheimer the Elder (1st half of the 17th century – circa 1710) was a crossbow maker and engraver at the court of Johann Georg II, Elector of Saxony. His son of the same name can be documented in the service of the electors of Saxony and the Polish kings until 1747. See H. Richter, Die Kunst der Armbrustmacher in Dresden, pp. 16, 17. Two light crossbows signed by the same manufacturer can be found in the armoury in Dresden and in the art collections of Veste Coburg.
They also add that Bensheimer the Elder was long active in Gdansk, before returning to his home town of Dresden in the 1670s. He may have used older components from his reserves to make this crossbow, and is a fabulous crossbow of "Rüstung" type, produced by a crossbow maker of the court of Saxony.
Source
Images and data courtesy of
Hermann Historica
Link:
https://www.hermann-historica.de/en/auctions/lot/id/68643
Crossbow Top Measurements
69cm
Crossbow Side Measurements
69cm