Wheellock Rifle by Marcus Zelner

This ceremonial firearm crafted by Marcus Zelner Wein, the renowned gunsmith of the Viennese Imperial Court, is truly a masterpiece fit for the highest royal hunting or military honors. Its design follows the favored Viennese crown style, boasting intricate details that depict the splendor of nature. The iron chiseled lockplate showcases a hunting scene and a touching image of a woman with a child feeding a bird. Adding to its opulence, a chiseled gilt brass side plate further enhances the firearm's beauty. The barrel is adorned with a gilt signature and exquisite foliate scrolls, while the walnut mounts feature ornate chiseled gilt brass ornaments. Without a doubt, the stunning firearm is among the greatest in 18th-century firearms craftsmanship.

Marcus Zelner was an Austrian gunmaker born in Salzburg in 1693, belonging to a prominent dynasty of gunmakers. To become a master gunsmith, the gunmakers guild of Vienna required submission of their finest innovation: the improved wheelock firearm produced entirely by the gunmaker’s own hand. Zelner accomplished this feat in 1726. He set up his own workshop and married the daughter of Felix Meier, the most important gunsmith of Viennese courts.

Zelner produced exceptional firearms commissioned by the courts of Vienna and Liechtenstein. One of his earliest and finest preserved wheelock rifles is now on display at Vaduz Castle in the Liechtenstein Collection of Arms, and was exhibited in the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s 1985 exhibition Firearms from the Collections of the Prince of Liechtenstein. The matching pair to our rifle, the only known other known model of its kind, resides in the permanent collection of the Medeiros e Almeida Museum in Lisbon, Portugal.

This wheelock rifle is pictured in Joana Ferreira's "Mosquetes de roda" in Peça em destaque, published 2022, on page 10.

Signed "MARCUS ZELNER IN WIENN"

Circa 1730-1740

8 3/8" high x 44 1/8" length x 3 1/8" deep

Literature:
Joana Ferreira. “Mosquetes de roda” in Peça em destaque, Museu Medeiros e Almeida, Sept. 2022, p.10.