An Embossed Parade Burgonet (

Borgonotta tonda )

c. 1540 – 60

Northern Italy. Steel. Possibly associated cheek pieces. 25.5 / 10 in × 20.25 cm / 8 in

PROVENANCE

Private collection, France

The ornament embossed over the present burgonet bears striking similarities to that of another Italian burgonet in the Wallace Collection, London (A97). Two further closely related stylistic comparisons exist: a burgonet in the armoury of the Medieval Civic Museum in Bologna (inv. n. 3309, cat. no. 25) and another, very similar, in the former collection of R.L. Scott at the Glasgow Art Gallery and Museum, Kelvingrove (E 1939.65.ax, 1924 cat. no.16) and two further examples are found in the Poldi Pezzoli

Museum, Milan (inv. no. 344, cat. n. 50), and in the Stibbert Museum, Florence (inv no 1987, cat. n. 66).

Another burgonet in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London (M.178-1921.) draws specific comparison between this ornament and that of a helmet made by Caremolo di Modrone, and probably presented by Federico Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua to the Emperor Charles V in 1536.

A Rare Light Rapier, the Cup-Guard Chiselled with the Insignia of a Knight of Chivalric Ordre de Saint-Michel

c. 1635 – 45

France, probably Paris. Steel and wood. With later grip. 128 cm / 50.5 in

PROVENANCE

Private collection, France

The French Order of Saint Michael was a royal order of chivalry founded in 1469, as a response by Louis XI to the founding of the Order of the Golden Fleece by Duke Philip of Burgundy, he being the king’s principal competitor for the allegiance of the powerful Dukes of Orléans, de Berry and Brittany.

A light rapier very similar to this is in the Musée de l’Armée, Paris (J 382). The hilt is undoubtedly from the same workshop and it was, by tradition, carried by the young Louis XIV in 1649-50. Prior to its acquisition by the Musée de l’Armée, the rapier was in the collection of the Emperor Napoleon III at Château Pierrefonds, and included in the catalogue of the collection published in 1864, cat. no. 277.

An Exceptionally Rare Rifled Small-bore Cannon of Twist Steel Damascened in Gold and Silver (Prunkgeschütz ), made by Johann Sebastian Hauschka for August Wilhelm, Prince of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel

Dated 1729

Signed by the maker ‘S. Hauschka 1729’ on the fillet moulding at the head of the first reinforce. The ducal monogram ‘AW’ and the motto ‘Parta Tveri’, together with the crown and quartered arms of August Wilhelm as Prince-Elector are also found on the series of etched state partisans dated 1718, carried by the trabantenleibgarde of Duke August Wilhelm.

Northern Germany, Wolfenbüttel. Steel, gold, silver, copper alloy (brass, bronze) and wood.

166.5 cm / 65.5 in × 63.5 / 25 in

Provenance

Schloss Wolfenbüttel, residence of the Princes of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel; one of four cannon of this type made by Hauschka and recorded in the 1732 inventory of the princely armoury, the present cannon historically recorded as ‘Nr.3’ in that inventory.

Subsequently transferred within the latter decades of the 18 th century to the von Veltheim family, Schloss Harbke, Saxony-Anhalt.

In 1945 the castle and its estate were expropriated by Soviet forces, the contents having been removed prior to then by the surviving heir, Mechthild-Karin, Gräfin zu Pappenheim (née von Veltheim, d.2008).

Sold anonymously by her heirs, Christie’s European Noble & Private Collections, part 1, 30 September 2014, lot 178. This cannon, together with another sold as lot 178A (the latter apparently neither signed nor dated but certainly from the Hauschka workshop) were each erroneously ascribed in the auction catalogue as having been made for August Wilhelm, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel-Bevern.

Literature

Robert Bohlmann, ‘Johann Sebastian Hauschka Braunschweigischer Hof-Büchsenmacher’, in Zeitschriftfür Historische Waffen- undKostümkunde, Band 3 (12), Heft 8, September 1930, pp.187-193

Johann Sebastian Hauschka was a gunmaker and artist of significant accomplishment. The roll of royal recipients of Hauschka’s firearms is a visible testimonial of his worth, namely the Dauphin of France, later Louis XV; the Holy Roman Emperor Carl VI; the Empress Maria-Theresa; King Friedrich Wilhelm I of Prussia; and Crown-Prince Friedrich of Prussia, later Friedrich II, ‘The Great’. Their magnificent firearms from Wolfenbüttel are today preserved in the important museum collections of Leeds, Vienna, Berlin, New York and Brunswick, while further examples of Haushka’s royal and presentation-quality firearms are in the Royal Collections at Windsor and in private ownership.

17

A State Halberd carried by the Bodyguards of Prince-Archbishop of Salzburg, Wolf Dietrich von Raitenau

Dated 1589

Southern Germany, probably Augsburg Steel, brass, hardwood 222 cm / 87.4 in

PROVENANCE

Included in the removal of the greater part of the contents of the Salzburg arsenal by Bavarian troops, within the period 1809 - 15, and installed as booty in the Munich city arsenal.

Transferred to the Bavarian Army Museum, Munich, circa 1879.

Acquired in 1961 by Dr. Hans Schedelmann, Vienna (the renowned authority on antique arms), by exchange.

A State Halberd of the Bodyguards of Prince-Archbishop of Salzburg, Wolf Dietrich von Raitenau, bearing the etcher’s device of Hieronymus Riederer

Dated 1611

Southern Germany, Augsburg Steel, hardwood 236cm / 92.9in

PROVENANCE

Included in the removal of the greater part of the contents of the Salzburg arsenal by Bavarian troops, within the period 1809 - 15, and installed as booty in the Munich city arsenal.

Transferred to the Bavarian Army Museum, Munich, c.1879. Acquired in 1961 by Dr. Hans Schedelmann, Vienna (the renowned authority on antique arms), by exchange.