Clone of A Musket Ball Puller in Dresden

German, mid-late 16th century
Gilded Brass, Iron
L: 27.5cm, W: 5.7cm, D: 1.1cm

Contained in the Kunstkammer of Elector August of Saxony (r. 1553-1586) were over 400 implements capable of precisely working on the opened body. A selection of fourteen of these implements has in common an easily graspable gilt brass handle of fine yet smoothly undulating design. 

Perhaps most striking among the brass-handled group is an instrument used in the gruesome process of dislodging a musket ball from the bone of an inflicted warrior. At 27.5 cm in length, it is by far the largest instrument in the group and was clearly meant to be used with two hands- one to steady and aim the instrument and the other to turn the key that would drive the iron screw at the end of the shaft. This prodding screw was designed to burrow into the soft lead musket ball, which would have been impossible to remove with the pliers or scoops used for less deeply lodged balls. Once the ball had been penetrated, the user could then pull it out by gripping the instrument through the two-finger loops and jerking upwards. This design, efficient yet finely executed for a wealthy collector or practitioner, could have been easily stowed and operated in a battlefield increasingly shaped by the firearm.  

Within the Kunstkammer of Elector August, this instrument was collected among firearms and many other weapons which served as technical exemplars. Defensive devices, weapons and surgical instruments such as the ball puller represent a technical interest in and readiness for combat and equally its prevention and recuperation. But August was primarily interested in surgery as a craft and sought to understand it through texts both practical and theoretical as well as with the aid of Leipzig professor of anatomy Simone Simoni, who shared a desire to disseminate the mechanical aspects of surgery. From 1577 to 1578 Simoni served as August’s buyer of usable and fantastic surgical instruments as well as skeletons of both man and animal. Legends propose August’s personal attempts at surgery, and while he certainly practised other crafts, such as cartography and ivory turning, it is likely that any story of his performing surgery was aimed to further his renown as a practitioner or was otherwise invented after his death. 

Other members of the brass-handled group would have also aided in battlefield surgery, including knives for incisions and others for bloodletting, chisels for piercing the skull, and a cautery for burning wounds shut. As bladed objects and implements of precise handwork, they attract comparison to August’s extensive armoury and collections of tools, including those for hunting, carpentry, gardening, and writing among other disciplines. Indeed, some of the tools could have found non-surgical uses, including a knife that resembles those used to erase handwritten text by way of scraping. It is clear that many surgical tools of the time could be implemented in a variety of uses, making them highly practical, while other examples, such as the musket ball puller, displayed a level of ingenuity that equally fascinated the Elector. 

Commentary: Andrew Biedermann (April 2022)

Sources: 

Nagel, Christine. “Chirurgische Instrumente in der kurfüstlich-sächsischen Kunstkammer.” Dresdener Kunstblätter (2), 2017.

https://skd-online-collection.skd.museum/Details/Index/288114