1049

Silver Inlaid Japanese Matchlock

Currency:USD Category:Antiques / Firearms & Armory Start Price:600.00 USD Estimated At:1,500.00 - 2,250.00 USD
Silver Inlaid Japanese Matchlock
Fixed sights, with a gently swamped muzzle and silver inlaid designs on the barrel of flowers and a butterfly, along with a silver moon that strongly resembles that of the Matsunaga clan. The Matsunaga name is most strongly associated with Matsunaga Hisahida (1510-1577), a feudal daimyo who reportedly ordered his own head to be blown up following his suicide, in order to deny Oda Nobunaga the ability to take it as a trophy. Smooth straight grip stock with chrysanthemum shaped escutcheons, brass lock plate, components and touchhole cover, a leaping boar design on the right side of the buttstock and a round plate on the underside with untranslated marking.
BBL: 39 inch swamped octagon
Stock: walnut
Gauge: 58
Finish: brown
Grips:
Serial Number: NSN
Condition: Fine. The iron shows a deep mixed patina with scattered pitting, strongest near the touchhole, and the brass shows a fine aged patina with darker patches. A split is visible in the front barrel band, and forming on the middle band. The stock is good, with a chip absent from the right side ahead of the lock, a crack extending from that chip, and a few smaller cracks and handling marks. A brass strip is absent from the comb of the stock. Mechanically very good.