Maker: Unknown
Steel with etched and partly gilt decoration. The decoration of the crossbow includes squirrels, a swan, tritons, Cupid riding a dolphin, and a group of Venus, Cupid, and a putto riding a hippocamp (a mythical seahorse).
History note: Mr James Stewart Henderson of 'Abbotsford', Downs Road, St Helen's Park, Hastings, Sussex
J.S. Henderon Bequest
Height: 40.5 cm
Method of acquisition: Bequeathed (1933-03-16) by Henderson, James Stewart
16th Century
Circa
1500
CE
-
1600
CE
A cranequin, comprising a hook, ratchet, and handle, was used to span a crossbow in preparation for firing.
Considerable force was needed to pull the string of a crossbow back to the spanned position ready for shooting. As the power of the bow increased it became impossible to do this it by hand unaided. This rack and pinion device, called a cranequin, was capable of pulling the string back due to its gearing. It was placed over the crossbow, as here, and turning the handle moved the geared rack backwards, dragging the string with it. Once the string was locked in position for shooting, the cranequin was removed.
The tiller of this highly ornate crossbow is particularly designed to show off the wealth of its owner. The decoration includes squirrels, a swan, tritons, Cupid riding a dolphin, and a group of Venus, Cupid, and a putto riding a hippocamp (a mythical seahorse).
Handle composed of wood
Accession number: HEN.M.411-1933
Primary reference Number: 19465
Old object number: B117
Stable URI
Owner or interested party:
The Fitzwilliam Museum
Associated department:
Applied Arts
This record can be cited in the Harvard Bibliographic style using the text below:
The Fitzwilliam Museum (2024) "Cranequin" Web page available at: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/19465 Accessed: 2024-04-19 13:34:21
To cite this record on Wikipedia you can use this code snippet:
{{cite web|url=https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/19465
|title=Cranequin
|author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2024-04-19 13:34:21|publisher=The
University of Cambridge}}
To call these data via our API (remember this needs to be authenticated) you can use this code snippet:
https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/api/v1/objects/object-19465
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