Who is the first gun engraver known in history ?
- Thread starter SalihKara
- Start date
Riflesmith
Elite Cafe Member
I don't know that you could find an answer to that question! Man has probably been adorning his tools since he crawled up out of the abyss of time.
Crazy Horse
Elite Cafe Member
I know, I know!!!! Fred Flintstone. ;~)
Brian Marshall
~ Elite 1000 Member ~
Does it have to be a firearm? Not a knife, sword or crossbow?
Brian
Brian
Roger Bleile
~ Elite 1000 Member ~
The short and simple answer to your question is, nobody knows.
For the most part, until the second half of the 20th century, gun engravers worked in anonymity. They were considered by gun makers to be just another of the many craftsmen who worked to complete a finished gun. I was told by a German gun engraver that, until after WWII, German gun engravers were forbidden to sign their work. I have examined many pre-WWII engraved German guns and never found a signature or mark identifying the engraver.
Of course, we have identified the work of many 19th century engravers but prior to the 19th century we know very little about the identities of gun engravers.
The first gun engravers were undoubtedly the same people who decorated armor and edged weapons. Some matchlock guns were engraved but ornamentation of firearms really came into vogue with wheellock guns developed around 1500.
One of the earliest men reputed to have engraved a gun is Benvenuto Cellini (1500-1571) who liked guns and claimed to have engraved one for a nobleman. He also mentions in his autobiography having decorated some knives as well. In the Beretta collection there is a highly ornamented flintlock pistol signed inside the lock "Giovanni Antonio Gavacciolo." Gavacciolo may have been the engraver or he could have been the lock maker or both.
My suspicion is that the first gun engraver was either Italian or German as both places had well developed weapon industries from earliest times and the earliest firearms originated in those countries.
I have attached an example of an ornately engraved wheellock pistol as an example of early gun engraving. Note the crucifix on top of the gun.
For the most part, until the second half of the 20th century, gun engravers worked in anonymity. They were considered by gun makers to be just another of the many craftsmen who worked to complete a finished gun. I was told by a German gun engraver that, until after WWII, German gun engravers were forbidden to sign their work. I have examined many pre-WWII engraved German guns and never found a signature or mark identifying the engraver.
Of course, we have identified the work of many 19th century engravers but prior to the 19th century we know very little about the identities of gun engravers.
The first gun engravers were undoubtedly the same people who decorated armor and edged weapons. Some matchlock guns were engraved but ornamentation of firearms really came into vogue with wheellock guns developed around 1500.
One of the earliest men reputed to have engraved a gun is Benvenuto Cellini (1500-1571) who liked guns and claimed to have engraved one for a nobleman. He also mentions in his autobiography having decorated some knives as well. In the Beretta collection there is a highly ornamented flintlock pistol signed inside the lock "Giovanni Antonio Gavacciolo." Gavacciolo may have been the engraver or he could have been the lock maker or both.
My suspicion is that the first gun engraver was either Italian or German as both places had well developed weapon industries from earliest times and the earliest firearms originated in those countries.
I have attached an example of an ornately engraved wheellock pistol as an example of early gun engraving. Note the crucifix on top of the gun.
Attachments
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Wheelock pistol w-crucifix.jpg
Omar Haltam
Elite Cafe Member
Thanks Roger, your a wealth of information as usual.
great picture
great picture
Good point, Roger. Iron ore has been mined for centuries near the town of Brescia, Italy, and there have always been plenty of gun manufacturers in that area because of that. I wonder if Brescia is the birthplace of gun engraving.
Dave London
~ Elite 1000 Member ~
My vote is for China,they invented guns and black powder. If I remember history correctly
i, sir, dare to argue. he engraved his slingshot. he never owned a gun !
tdelewis
Elite Cafe Member
Perhaps the question should be, who was the first known gun engraver. Who was the first to sign his work? What are the earliest records that document a person as a gun engraver?
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