A FINE ITALIAN (TUSCO-EMILIAN) SNAPHAUNCE LOCK FOR A SPORTING GUN

The signature is that of the Zanotti family which originated in Firenzuola and settled in Lugo between Bologna and Ravenna. In 1786 the most active members of the Lugo workshop appear to have been Francesco and Giuseppe, the sons of Cassiano Zanotti II. A lock dated 1789 and almost identical to the present lock is fitted to a gun in the Musée de l'Armée, Paris (inv. no. 06187), illustrated in Nolfo di Carpegna, 'Notes on Central Italian Firearms of the Eighteenth Century', part II, J.A.A.S., vol. VIII, no.1, plate XXIII A