Matchlock Gun

Unknown

late 18th–19th century · Steel, iron, wood, ivory, gold, silver, copper alloy, pigment · Arms and Armor

With its delicately painted stock and distinctive barrel type with an enlarged breech end, this gun was likely manufactured in Rajasthan, in northern India. Intended for the hunt, such richly decorated firearms were made for an aristocratic clientele. A similar example appears in a portrait of the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan (r. 1628–58) from around 1635, indicating that guns of this style remained in fashion for several centuries with very little change.

Artist

Unknown

Date

late 18th–19th century

Medium

Steel, iron, wood, ivory, gold, silver, copper alloy, pigment

Culture

Indian, Rajasthan, possibly Gwalior

Department

Arms and Armor

Credit line

Rogers Fund, 1933