Pistol Shield

A medium-sized shield made of steel with an extremely rare pistol attachment. The shield is of round form, highly polished, with traces of gold. It has a reinforced ornate border which is the same border used on the four domed bosses.

From the centre of the shield a hexagonal pistol barrel protrudes on which sits an applied brass figure of a naked lady with arms extended in a performative manner, she wears nothing except her smile and a pair of bazu-bands on her arms. The rear of the shield is unpolished and shows the hammer marks left during its production, with four attached rings, which would have had two straps used as handles, only one now remains (it is probably a period replacement made of cloth). The pistol flintlock mechanism is housed under a lock-plate and the surface is etched with an erotic scene on its surface. The naked lady from the front appears in the scene, still smiling, and seen in an amorous embrace with her lover in the outdoors, a mystery face, top right, spies on them. A long trigger arm with a hook extends from the bottom, the serpentine etched with the face of a beast.

The actual shield is undoubtedly North Indian, probably Punjab, with traces of gold but the hand of the craftsman that produced both the lady on the front and the scene on the back suggests that he was an English craftsman and the pistol-adaption was an English creation. The gunsmith would have likely been aware of a group of gunshields from the armoury of Henry VIII with barrels attached to the front in the same manner, the majority being in the Royal collection and the Royal Armouries (UK), [1] although gun-shields are not unknown, only one is currently known by the author, and that is in the Royal Armouries, see: https://royalarmouries.org/collection/object/object-1649

A highly unusual object, it would make a cheeky conversation piece, which is likely the reason it was originally commissioned.

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