POST MEDIEVAL TOY

1600

A copper-alloy miniature toy musket, dating from the post-medieval period.The barrel is of sub-oval cross section with a hollow bore of 4-5mm. The downward-angling handle has a pentagonal cross section and tapers towards a wider 'fishtail' butt. The sub-rectangular trigger guard (there is no trigger) is located on the underside, straddling the handle and butt. At the handle end of the barrel is a circular pan for the priming powder and, in front of this, a rectangular moulding. Both sides of the handle and butt are decorated by a longitudinal line of ring-and-dot punchmarks.Length: 88.9mm. Weight: 20.9g.Similar toy muskets were found in London and are illustrated and discussed by Egan and Forsyth (2005: 88-97). According to the authors, the fishtail-shaped butt seen on all of these pieces is found on standard English muskets of the period 1600-1640, although the toys may have been made over a longer period (ibid. 89-90).