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TOY
Unique ID: LANCUM-13E217
Object type certainty: Certain
Workflow
status: Awaiting validation 
Post Medieval cast lead alloy or lead toy pistol's left side handle grip. The outer face is moulded in imitation of a contemporary pistol & the inner face retains impressions and traces of the original iron mechanism and fixings. Most likely to date between c1600 and c1800 AD.
Length is 49mm, width 12mm, depth 4mm, and the weight 7.15g.
See also KENT-761751, SUSS-41C181, and NLM-5019F5.
The long cylindrical barrel and trigger mechanism is missing. It was cast in two pieces one of which is now missing the remaining piece is strengthened with a midrib. The external surface is decorated with a low relief pattern of cross hatched lines with a lozenge in each of its compartments, within a grooved border. There is a lentoid plate (depicted on both sides) on which the edge of the housing for the mechanism of a wheel lock is represented; this area of the toy has two circular rivets running through both sides. The form resembles that of toy petronels or cavalry pistols reported from London, where a 17th-century date is suggested (Forsyth and Egan 2005, page 97, no. 1.39).
Many different types of similar toy pistols have been recorded on the PAS database, ranging in date from the 16th-19th century AD. A similar type recorded as NLM-5019F5 has been identified as a form of a cavalry pistol of circa 1600-1630 (Forsyth and Egan 2005, Toys, Trifles and Trinkets: Base-metal miniatures from London 1200 to 1800, page 97, no. 1.39).
Class: pistol
Subsequent actions
Subsequent action after recording: Returned to finder
Chronology
Broad period: POST MEDIEVAL
Subperiod from: Middle
Period from: POST MEDIEVAL
Subperiod to: Late
Period to: POST MEDIEVAL
Date from: Circa AD 1600
Date to: Circa AD 1800
Dimensions and weight
Quantity: 1
Length: 49 mm
Width: 12 mm
Thickness: 4 mm
Weight: 7.15 g
Discovery dates
Date(s) of discovery: Thursday 4th July 2013
Personal details
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Materials and construction
Primary material: Lead Alloy
Secondary material: Iron
Manufacture method: Cast
Completeness: Fragment
Spatial metadata
Region: North West (European Region)County or Unitary authority: Lancashire (County)
District: Ribble Valley (District)
To be known as: Clitheroe
Spatial coordinates
Grid reference source: Centred on parish
Unmasked grid reference accurate to a 1 metre square.
References cited
| Author | Publication Year | Title | Publication Place | Publisher | Pages | Reference | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Forsyth, H. with Egan, G. | 2005 | Toys, Trifles and Trinkets: Base Metal Miniatures from London 1200 to 1800 | London | Unicorn Press Ltd | 97, no.1.39 |
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Timeline of associated dates
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