Scheibenbüchse mit Steinschloss und Monokel

Practically all Habsburg rulers loved the chase, making Vienna an international centre for gun-making. In 1661, the Viennese gunsmiths founded their own guild and issued strict guild rules to ensure the quality of their members’ production.

Johann Georg Keiser was Vienna’s leading gunsmith during the Baroque period. We first hear of him working as an apprentice in the city in 1671; in 1673 he was a journeyman, and by 1674 a master-gunsmith. Keiser continued to make guns right up the very end of his life. He was 84 when he completed this gun, as documented by the inscription on its barrel: ‘Georg Keiser 84 years old, 1731’ (Georg Keiser Alt 84 Jahr. 1731). Keiser signed other guns produced in his workshop when he was 91 – that is, 64 years after he had passed his master-craftsman’s examination. The two flintlock pistols he made in 1738 for Emperor Charles VI (inv. G 291) are his final extant works; their signature reads ‘Georg Keiser in Vienna, 91 years old’ (Georg Keiser in Wienn Alt 91 Jahr).

The barrel of this gun is blued and embellished with decorative bands, a deer, and two hounds. The lock is engraved with a similar pattern, and the butt is decorated with pierced silver ornaments featuring hunting scenes. The escutcheon plate on the gun’s wrist combines the arms of Charles VI with the imperial double-headed eagle.

One highly unusual detail is the monocle with -7.5 dioptres mounted on the butt of this gun for its extremely short-sighted imperial owner. A year after this gun was produced, Charles VI was involved in a tragic hunting accident: during a deer hunt held at Brandýs in Bohemia he accidentally shot his Oberstallmeister (Master of the Horse) Adam Franz, Prince of Schwarzenberg, who succumbed to his injuries the following day.