Collection

Description

This rifle is one of the most beautiful weapons produced by German gunsmiths in the 18th century. Extremely fine reliefs with hunting scenes and Rococo ornamentation adorn the steel mounts and the barrel. The fine inlays of silver wire in the wooden stock and the delicate transitions between the carved wood and the metalwork are remarkable. The flintlock rifle is part of a larger rifle set that was given to the Bavarian Elector Max III Joseph and his wife Maria Anna of Saxony as a wedding present in 1747. Unlike a gun, a rifle fires bullets. The flintlock is a firing mechanism in which a flint strikes steel.