Bobbejaanbout (Baboon thigh butt) musket, 1800-1850 (c)

This weapon was assembled in Cape Colony from imported parts on a stinkwood stock and used by Dutch settlers in South Africa. Such trade muskets, usually made up from imported English locks and barrels married to locally produced stocks, are almost impossible to date accurately. Many have locks engraved 'Henry Knock' an anachronistic or otherwise spurious reference to the noted London gunmaker, Henry Nock, who was active 1770 to 1804. The style of the musket, heavily influenced by Dutch designs, is archaic, but weapons of this type were carried by burghers well into the 19th century.