1884.16.11

Collection type

Object

Description

Crossbow with bone mounted stock and elaborate trigger mechanism including cocking and safety levers and a trigger guard [SM 20/02/2007]

Long description

Crossbow with bone mounted stock and elaborate trigger mechanism including cocking and safety levers and a trigger guard. Steel bow still maintains its string. [SM 20/02/2007]

Geographical reference

Germany

Europe > Western Europe > Germany

Cultural groups

European

German

Person

Maker Unknown Maker

Field collector Unknown Collector

PRM source Augustus Henry Lane Fox Pitt Rivers founding collection

Date / Period

Date made: 1500-1600

Date collected

By 1862

Acquisition information

Donated: 1884

Materials and processes

Material Animal Bone, Material Steel Metal, Material Wood Plant, Material Rope, Process Carved, Process Carpentered, Process Tied

Dimensions

Length: max 600 mm of stock, Length: max 500 mm of bow, Weight 2900 g

Object numbers

Accession number: 1884.16.11 PR Cat other PR nos: 309

Research and responses

C ffoulkes. 1912. 'European Arms and Armour in the University of Oxford' Clarendon Press, Oxford. p46 '92 Latch crossbow of the XVI cent. Pitt Rivers coll 309'[illustration] [AP Leverhulme project on founding collection 1995-1998]

See RDF for report by Jens Sensfelder, from his visit in November 2014. He comments that "The crossbow can be dated to the 17th or 18th century". "It is formally a hunting or sport bow" he remarked. This crossbow was not strung with a cranequin (no lugs on stock) and is known as a Schnepper. He also said comparative bows with the same makers mark always a Nuremberg city mark, so it is possible these were made in Nuremberg. [MJD 18/02/2015]

Search terms: Archery Weapon, Cross Bow