A wheellock rifle dating: Late 17th - Early 18th Century provenance: Austria, Rifled, octagonal, 12 mm cal. barrel at the nozzle, provided with iron foresight and rear sight, and engraved frame at the breech and nozzle, a well marked shield on the back of the breech featuring the letters 'CH' in relief surmounting a bird, the coat of arms with the same letters on the side, 'C' on the left 'H' on the right. Flat and smooth lock. The wheel is protruding from the plate and is inside an elegant silver-plated metal mount elegantly pierced with two rampant lions framed by racemes. The cock and its spring are engraved, the former with an animal's head, and both with remains of an earlier gilding, like the pan cover. The pan is provided with a long spark arrester. Wooden full stock with a few woodworm holes and richly decorated with engraved bone-inlays. Decorative elements on the right side: greyhounds chasing hares and grotesques with dragon's heads; on the lower side a mask with a devil face and the effigy of a Hungarian style armed warrior (maybe an Hajduk), and the portrait of a gentleman, the butt with other masks and grotesques on the back; the left side again with greyhounds and hares, but also featuring a hunting scene of a fight among a bear and dogs, and a beautiful scene of a fight between a Turkish knight armed with a bow and a raider firing his pistol. Bone butt-plate with remains of a heraldic coat of arms surmounting the inscription 'V de T'. Bone patchbox with remains of grotesque engraving. length 108,3 cm.