Л.И. Тарасюк
Старинное огнестрельное оружие в собрании Эрмитажа. Европа и Северная Америка.
// Л.: «Искусство». 1971. 224 с.
Содержание
(курсивом обозначены номера иллюстраций и аннотаций)
Введение. — 7
Иллюстрации [Табл. I-VI]. — 23
Аннотации. — 153
Однозарядное оружие. 1-384. — 155
Дульнозарядные ружья и пистолеты. 1-353. — 155
Казнозарядные ружья и пистолеты. 354-384. — 188
Многозарядное оружие. 385-505. — 192
Оружие под накладные заряды. 385-395. — 192
Оружие с двумя или несколькими неподвижными стволами. 396-445. — 193
Дульнозарядные ружья и пистолеты. 396-443. — 193
Оружие с двумя казнозарядными стволами. 444-445. — 200
Револьверное оружие. 446-499. — 200
Оружие с блоком поворотных стволов. 446-463. — 200
Оружие с одним стволом и барабаном. 464-499. — 202
Магазинное оружие. 500-505. — 208
Комбинированное оружие 506-541. — 208
Указатели. — 213
Указатель ружейных мастеров, конструкторов, декораторов и фирм. — 214
Указатель клейм и других пометок на оружии. — 216
Перечень датированных предметов. — 220
Указатель первоначальных владельцев оружия. — 222
Table of contents
(numerals in italics indicate illustrations and notes)
Illustrations [Pl. I-VI]. — 23
Notes. — 153
Single-Shot Firearms, 1-384. — 155
Muzzle-Loading Guns and Pistols, 1-353. — 155
Breech-Loading Guns and Pistols, 354-384. — 188
Multi-Shot Firearms, 385-505. — 192
Superimposed Load Weapons, 385-395. — 192
Firearms with Two or More Fixed Barrels, 396-445. — 193
Muzzle-Loading Guns and Pistols, 396-443. — 193
Breech-Loading Two-Barrelled Firearms, 444-445. — 200
Revolving Firearms, 446-499. — 200
Firearms with Revolving Barrels, 446-463. — 200
Firearms with Revolving Cylinder, 464-499. — 202
Magazine Firearms, 500-505. — 208
Combined Weapons, 506-541. — 208
Indexes. — 213
Index of Gunmakers, Designers, Decorators and Firms. — 214
Index of Marks and Other Signs. — 216
Index of Dated Items. — 220
Index of Initial Owners of Weapons. — 222
Introduction. ^
The outstanding collection of firearms which is presently part of the Hermitage, one of the largest museums all over the world, was initially made up from personal accessions of the Grand Duke Nikolai Pavlovitch who displayed great interest in old weapons and other military historical relics. When the founder of this collection ascended the throne, the weapons collected were exhibited in the Alexander Palace located in Tsarskoye Selo, near Petersburg, and since 1834 ‒ in the large park pavilion known as the Tsarskoselsky Arsenal where the collection kept growing for fifty years, subsequently taking a world lead in its richness and scientific value.
The Imperial collection grew larger from various sources. The best pieces of weapons captured by the Russian army in the wars against Persia, Turkey, in the Caucasus and Central Asia were sent to the Armoury. Particularly valuable arms and cavalry harnesses selected in the armouries of old Russian fortresses, the Kunstkammer of Peter the Great and the Stable Museum were brought there. Large quantities of arms and armour were purchased on the instructions of Nicholas I from Russian and foreign collectors at European auctions and in the Orient. As the collection became better known, more presents from heads of foreign states, members of the Tsar family, Russian and overseas dignitaries, antiquaries and gunmakers arrived. Besides, complete collections and cabinets of personal weapons which belonged to Nicholas I, Alexander II and Grand Duke Mikhail Pavlovitch were added to the Tsarskoselsky Arsenal at different times.
More than seven thousand various pieces of arms, cavalry harness, banners and other militaria were collected in the Tsarskoselsky Arsenal throughout the first fifty years of its existence. What is more, a voluminous library composed of old and modern publications dealing with the history of weapons, art of war, fencing etc. was attached to the Armoury. F. Gille, the arms connoisseur, who directed the efforts to collect, study and exhibit the materials in the halls of the arms museum accessible to general public, played a leading role among the Armoury directors during this period.
In 1885, when the Medieval and Renaissance department was established in the Hermitage Museum, a decision was made to merge it with the collections of the Tsarskoselsky Arsenal where a very small and the least valuable part of weapons (mostly dating from the nineteenth century) was left. As a consequence, the Hermitage gained some seven thousand exhibits, with about
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one third of the pieces displayed at the exhibition of arms, armour and works of medieval applied art opened in 1888. E.E. Lenz, who revised most of the collected materials in the light of fresh scientific data, was in charge of the Hermitage arms collection in 1899-1919.
After the Great October Socialist Revolution, the State Hermitage Museum incorporated a great number of works of art from nationalized private collections. For the Hermitage collection of weapons, the acquisitions of great importance came from the former Imperial Anitchkov Palace Armoury and the arms and armour which had belonged to several generations of the Count Sheremetevs family. Both these collections comprised some four and a half thousand pieces dating back to the sixteenth through nineteenth centuries. With these and other accessions of the post-revolutionary period, the Hermitage collection almost doubled, as compared to the Tsarskoselsky Arsenal. In the twenties, when the Oriental Arts and Culture Department was established, all Asian weapons, i.e. some five thousand pieces, were transferred to it while the European and American arms remained in the West-European Arts Department.
At present the Hermitage collections of arms and armour incorporate not less than two and a half thousand pieces of hand firearms and various accessories for them. Over two thousand of these exhibits covering the period from the second half of the fifteenth through the second half of the nineteenth centuries had been manufactured by European and U.S. gunmakers.
The section of Russian firearms numbering about six hundred items rates first in its richness. Of particular value is a large group of pieces manufactured by Tula gunmakers and decorators in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the series of firearms made for the members of the Tsar family and other dignitaries being unique in size and quality. The guns and pistols manufactured by Petersburg gunmakers during the same period are also well represented in the Russian section.
The German, Austrian and Czech firearms from various gun-making centres such as Augsburg, Nürnberg, Dresden, München, Wien, Praha and other Central European cities famous for their gun production include many first-class specimens dating back to the sixteenth through the eighteenth centuries, this section being almost as numerous and significant in the Hermitage collection.
The section of French firearms runs to some two hundred and fifty items produced for the most part by Paris gunmakers in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Of particular interest is a large series of fine works of art from the Versailles workshop headed by N.-N. Boutet. An appreciable group of French weapons dates from the second half of the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries, two unique pieces coming from the Louis XIII’s Cabinet d’Armes.
The Italian and Netherlandish firearms are represented in the Hermitage collection in almost the same amounts, i.e. up to one hundred items from each country, the arms from Brescia, Southern Italy, Utrecht, Maastricht and Liege dating back to the seventeenth through the nineteenth centuries prevailing.
The sections of other countries number several dozens of pieces each. Among the Polish and Lithuanian items, of special interest are fairly rare specimens dating from the seventeenth century and superbly decorated weapons produced by the Warsaw makers in the second half of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. British gun production of the seventeenth through the nineteenth centuries is represented by a number of fine quality pieces, which were manufactured by distinguished London gunsmiths, and a group of original Scottish pistols.
As to Spanish weapons, the pieces of Madrid make are best represented, but there is also a group of distinctive items from Ripoll and other towns. Quite a number of fascinating specimens is found among the Danish, Swedish and Swiss firearms.
Most remarkable in the section of American firearms are the Colt rifles and revolvers, the majority of these being skilfully decorated presentation specimens given by S. Colt to Nicholas I, Alexander II and his brothers.
A common feature of all sections comprising the Hermitage collection is a low proportion of mass produced army weapons. This is true, too, for the firearms of which ninety percent are
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piece-work items of high artistic, historical and technological value as well as of memorial interest. The materials of the collection are little known to the broad circles of arms researchers and amateurs despite these merits. Of the many uncommon specimens of European and American firearms in the Hermitage collection, the most remarkable items of particular interest for Soviet and foreign historians and collectors were selected for this book, with due consideration given primarily for their artistic and memorial value, typological rarity and design features. Finally, the author did his best to represent all major groups of European and American firearms collected in the Hermitage.
The great majority of the materials included in this book have never been published before, but, regardless of this, all items to be reproduced were disassembled and thoroughly examined which made it possible, in quite a number of cases, to reveal inscriptions, marks and dates on them for the first time.
For more detailed information on the history and composition of the Hermitage arms collections, see: L. Tarassuk. The Collection of Arms and Armour in the State Hermitage, Leningrad. Introduction and Part I. The Journal of the Arms and Armour Society, vol. III, No. 1 (London, March 1959); Part II, ibid., vol. 5, Nos. 4-5 (March 1966). A bibliography on the subject is presented in this publication.
The greatest amount of valuable data on arms and armour in the Hermitage collections including firearms is contained in two works by E.E. Lenz: Императорский Эрмитаж. Указатель Отделения средних веков и эпохи Возрождения. Часть I. Собрание оружия. Петербург, 1908. [The Imperial Hermitage. Guide to the Medieval and Renaissance Department. Part I: The Collection of Arms and Armour. Petersburg, 1908, with an album of photographs supplementing the above guide]. ‒ Die Waffensammlung des Grafen S.D. Scheremetew in St. Petersburg. Leipzig, 1897.
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