Austrian Fowler

[Rancocas]

I got this fowler a few years ago at an auction.

Here are the statistics;
The barrel is 33 7/8 inches long. About 14 gauge. The L.O.P. is 14 inches. The barrel is held to the stock with three keys. Number 2 is engraved on the tang. The stock is made in two parts with the joining sections directly below the "Wedding band" where the octagon barrel changes to round. (It is not broken. It was made this way.) The pistol grip is unique. I'm not sure if it represents a griffon or a gargoyle. The tip of the ramrod appears to be horn. The touch hole lining appears to be gold. The weight is exactly 6 pounds on my digital bathroom scale. Engraved on the lock plate is "Senger in Wein". It has a roller frizzen. There is a rabbit engraved in several places. There are no other markings that I can see.
I believe this fowler was made c.1820 in Vienna (Wein) Austria by Jakob Senger.

There are two things that I hope the esteemed membership of this forum can answer for me.
1. The gold inlet barrel markings. Three fleur-de-lis all seem the same. There is writing on the band that binds the three parts of the fleur-de-lis but it is too tiny to make it
out.
Any meaning to the cross with the two "feet"?
The inlet with the crown on top has some lettering that you may be able to read. What is it's meaning?
The bottom inlet is badly worn, but it appears to me to be a lion with front paws raised, and a long upright curving tail.
Could any of these marks be a family crest?
2. My second question is about the maker of this fowler, Jakob Senger. I have learned that he lived 1768 to 1835. He came from Wurzburg, and began his apprenticeship in
Vienna in 1796. He became a master gunsmith in 1807. That is all I know about him. Does anyone have any more information about this man?

 

[TreeMan]

I can’t answer your questions but that is a marvelous looking gun!

 

[rich pierce]

Spanish barrel, high quality. Dave Person will be able to tell you more. Many high quality fowlers used Spanish barrels.

 

[sheriff john]

Beautiful piece. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Comfortably_Numb]

that stock cut was done by a US GI so he could take it home in a duffel bag.

 

[Kansas Jake]

Nothing to add other than if I remember my German classes many decades ago Wien is German for Vienna. Also if my memory isn’t completely gone Wien would be pronounced Vee -en in German.

 

[Rancocas]

I have discovered a little that may or may not be connected with my Austrian sporting piece.
Several years ago a double barreled flintlock sporting gun, made by my man, Jakob Senger "in Wein" was sold at auction. The auction brochure stated that this firearm came from the collection of "Duke Lobkowitz".
The House of Lobkowitz were and still are a royal family of Bohemia. Bohemia being, of course, a part of the current nation of the Czech Republic. The Lobkowitz family lines go back at least as far as the 13th century. Through the centuries marriages have mingled the royal blood and made family connections with Germany, Austria, and other European countries.
During the 1600's the Lobkowitz's built a palace in Prague, however later generations preferred to reside in their individual estates elsewhere, only using the Prague location for occasional residence.
This is Joseph Franz Maximilian, Duke and 7th Prince of Lobkowitz. He was born in Vienna, Austria on 8 December, 1772. He lived most of his life there in Vienna, but he died in Prague on 16 December 1816.
He was mainly noted for his love of music. He played the violin and the cello himself, and he was a great patron of Ludwig van Beethoven.

The various members of the House of Lobkowitz were collectors of fine art - and firearms, commissioning the best gun makers in Europe to build fine sporting guns for them. Hunting was a popular sport among the nobles and royalty of Europe for hundreds of years.
Prince Joseph was a contemporary, there in Vienna, with Jakob Senger, the maker of my gun. Could it be that he commissioned the sporting piece from Senger?
During WW II the Lobkowitz' lost everything. When the Nazis invaded they confiscated everything the royal families owned. After the war the Czech government in Prague restored the family possessions as much as possible, but some of it had disappeared forever.
What continues to stymie me is the marks on my fowler. None seem to match the Lobkowitz family crest or coat of arms. There was a bishop in the Lobkowitz line that could account for the cross. As for the crown and shield with lettering; I don't have a clue. The lion (if it is a lion) is a symbol of royalty in many nations of Europe, and this particular style of lion seems to fit the image of the symbol of Austria. The fluer de lis perplex me. Several countries used it, but it is best known in France. France and Austria had been at war in the early 1800's with the Austrians fighting against Napoleon. That ended about 1814. Why would a fluer de lis appear on this gun unless there was a French connection?

Ah well. The mystery lives on.

 

[Rancocas]

that stock cut was done by a US GI so he could take it home in a duffel bag.

Naw. The parts don't just butt up against each other like they would if it had been sawn. There is a small "lip" on the forward section that slips under the back part to help hold it.

 

[Fernando Keilty01]

The maker of the barrel is BUSTINDUI, of Madrid. Spain

 

[TDM]

It’s a beautiful Fowler.

 

[Rancocas]

The maker of the barrel is BUSTINDUI, of Madrid. Spain

THAT's IT! The barrel marks by Bustindui match the marks on my Austrian fowler.
Thank you very much.
So, the barrel was made in Spain by the Bustindui family, probably by Juan Estaban Bustindui, and then shipped up to Vienna where Jakob Senger put a stock on it and made it into a very nice fowler.

 

[Fernando Keilty01]

The barrel is of PEDRO BUTINDUI (P.O - BUS - TIN -DUI)

Ramiro Larrañaga "Sintesis Historica de la Armeria Vasca", pagina 123: BUSTINDUI, Pedro Ramon de
Maestro armero, Eibar, 1820-37 La marca y referencia que ofrece el Instituto suizo tampoco coincide con otros de igual nombre y apellido registrados. Diriase, que por cierta analogia se empareja con Jose Ramon de Bustindui, hijo de Juan Esteban y Teresa de Ascorta, nacido en Villareal de Alava el 2-5-1795, que con el correr del tiempo llego a ser un renombrado armero en Eibar.
La unica referencia del reseñado con esta marca, se debe a la obra NEW STOKEL. Por lo demas, resulta, pues, desconocido.
Si es caso, corrigiendo la epoca, el mas aproximado resultaria un tal Pedro de Bustindui, que en el año 1720 se traslado a la fabrica de Silillos a trabajar junto a un grupo de armeros vascos. Porque tampoco es coincidente con Pedro Jose Bustindui y Ruiz de Bernedo, nacido en Eibar en 1742 y fallecido en Placencia en 1816

 

[Rancocas]

Oh oh. I used to speak and read some Spanish, but that was over 30 years ago. It will take me some time to interpret this.

 

[Jaeger]

Nothing to add other than if I remember my German classes many decades ago Wien is German for Vienna. Also if my memory isn’t completely gone Wien would be pronounced Vee -en in German.

Actually, it's pronounced "Veen".....one syllable.

 

[TDM]

In the south it’s pronounced Vi-ana sausages.

 

[Hanger]

Very interesting I found one with similar markings but unsure of what it actually is.

 

[sheriff john]

Thanks for posting. Interesting to see such a fine example of the gunmakers' art so well preserved. European guilds, proof houses, etc. were serious business and help researchers a great deal. Thanks again.

 

[Rancocas]

Very interesting I found one with similar markings but unsure of what it actually is. View attachment 222951

Similar, but different. Maybe also a Spanish barrel, but from a different maker. ???
Interesting.

 

[Feltwad]

Enclosed are images of a typical way of early English method of joining the full stock of a flintlock

1760 sporting gun

Also enclose the image of a Spanish barrel showing the Madrid cross and also the tombstone with the makers name

Feltwad

 

[Rancocas]

Wonderful, Feltwad. Thank you.
My fowler does not have the brass pieces connecting the two stock forend halves. I don't think it ever did. There is a small lip on the forward section of mine that slips under the rear portion when assembled.

So, that style of cross is called a "Madrid Cross"?