Spanish Miquelet Lock

Philip · 26th July 2020, 09:48 PM

Congratulations!

Provenance: W Keith Neal is the author of Spanish Guns and Pistols (1955), a pioneering reference on the subject in English and unsurpassed until James D Lavin's A History of Spanish Firearms a decade later.

The maker: Antonio Navarro (Nabarro in the spelling of the era) flourished in the 1790s and started out as a student of court gunsmith Miguel de Zegarra. On barrels, his countermark is a sailing ship, below the punzón seen on the plate of your lock

The lock: very good design and craftsmanship, worthy of Navarro's status on the short list of esteemed Madrid gunsmiths compiled by Isidro Soler, who along with Nicolás Bis who had quasi-legendary status in the trade.

What I find distinctive about your lock is the shape of the plate, specifically its "tail". Downward-canted and with a rounded terminus. This shape is typical on patilla locks of this type seen on Portuguese guns; it seems to be a stylistic carry-over from the the lockplates of an earlier type of flint mechanism originating in that country, called fecho de molinhas. Compare with the forms of "tail" encountered on Spanish-made locks -- straight with rounded end, or pointed in the French style are the most common (German versions of miquelet locks often have squared off tails; the lock had something of a following among sportsmen there at the turn of the 18th cent.)

Perhaps this lock was made with the Portuguese market in mind. The profile of the cock with its long tapering jaws is also consistent with Lusitanian taste of the time, when prevailing Spanish (and Neapolitan) style tended to shorter jaws.

26th July 2020, 09:48 PM	#5
Philip Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: California Posts: 1,036	Congratulations! Provenance: W Keith Neal is the author of Spanish Guns and Pistols (1955), a pioneering reference on the subject in English and unsurpassed until James D Lavin's A History of Spanish Firearms a decade later. The maker: Antonio Navarro (Nabarro in the spelling of the era) flourished in the 1790s and started out as a student of court gunsmith Miguel de Zegarra. On barrels, his countermark is a sailing ship, below the punzón seen on the plate of your lock The lock: very good design and craftsmanship, worthy of Navarro's status on the short list of esteemed Madrid gunsmiths compiled by Isidro Soler, who along with Nicolás Bis who had quasi-legendary status in the trade. What I find distinctive about your lock is the shape of the plate, specifically its "tail". Downward-canted and with a rounded terminus. This shape is typical on patilla locks of this type seen on Portuguese guns; it seems to be a stylistic carry-over from the the lockplates of an earlier type of flint mechanism originating in that country, called fecho de molinhas. Compare with the forms of "tail" encountered on Spanish-made locks -- straight with rounded end, or pointed in the French style are the most common (German versions of miquelet locks often have squared off tails; the lock had something of a following among sportsmen there at the turn of the 18th cent.) Perhaps this lock was made with the Portuguese market in mind. The profile of the cock with its long tapering jaws is also consistent with Lusitanian taste of the time, when prevailing Spanish (and Neapolitan) style tended to shorter jaws.