What is the symbolism of the "hunter's star"?

[windsor]

It's seen on many Lancaster rifles, etc. and I don't know it's origins. Does anyone know where this common inlay originated?

 

[54ball]

A Christmas decoration, Really the hunters star is reference to the star of Bethleham, Christ and the North Star. A guide to get the wandering hunter home.
Down turned cresent moon, Wet moon when the forest is wet from a rainy night the hunter can hunt game silently.
Bird- Distle Fink or Thistle Finch a finch that makes its nest in thistle or thorns. Thought to bring good luck it shows humility like Christ's crown of thorns.
Scroll- a message the rifleman is the messanger the ball the message.
weeping heart- the peirced heart of Christ it is usaully found on the wrist the shooters hand covers it while aiming this symbolizes protection with the hand over the heart like the rifle protects his home and his.
Fish- fishers of men Christian symbol fish always face up stream.
X or cross on the bottom flat below the front sight, hidden from veiw, keeps the demons fron entering the barrel

 

[MattWisc]

54ball

Thanks for the inlay definitions ... !

Matt/Wisc
Bottom Slappers Forever!
Dare to be Different!

 

[Ephraim]

Some of these symbols are masion symbols lots of masions back then. but some are also christian.
have never seen the x under front sight but is neet story.

Ephraim

 

[Stophel]

The star is a derivation of "der Fraenkischer Stern"...the Star of Franken (or "Franconia" if you must). Franken is currently in the northernmost portion of the modern state of Bavaria. The black and white star is found on guns made in Franken all along the Main river even to the Pfalz (where MANY immigrants to PA came from). Other than the origin of the star, I do NOT know the significance of it, but think it was originally an element of the coat of arms of Franken or something.

I would suppose that the star was sometimes looked upon as representative of the star of Bethlehem. I personally think that it was just a star!

Some of us Protestants are/were not real crazy about symbolism, and such things were often avoided. Even the Cross is almost totally unseen in PA German art. The tulip is sometimes considered to be representative of the Holy Trinity. I doubt it. I think it's just a tulip. You will find in some Mennonite art a bird (it is NOT a "pelican"!) plucking at it's breast to nourish its young, which is a symbol for self sacrifice. This is about the only thing that I can think of that was used for its actual symbolism.

Now, the Moravians did tend to like symbolism a bit more than the Lutherans/Reformed/Mennonites, and they may well have had some intended symbolic references in their gun art.

I don't think you begin to see the fish (Ichthus) on guns until the 19th century. This is an ancient symbol used by Christians as an emblem. The letters in the Greek word "fish" (I ch th u s) happened to be the first letters in the phrase "Jesus Christ, God's son" (or something rather similar to that, I don't recall exactly).

 

[wolfers]

Hi, in Lancaster county PA, it is called the Moravian star. So my take on it for Lancaster guns is that it came from a Moravian background and I have been told it is a guiding star used to get a person home safe. There was settlement of early Moravians in the Lititz area in Lancaster county.

 

[Stophel]

There is the "Hakenkreutz" (hooked cross), popularly known now as a "swastika". This was a good luck charm in the 18th century, and is seen on PA German furniture and folk art. I have yet to see or hear of it on a gun, though, which I actually do find unusual.

The Hakenkreutz in the 18th and 19th centuries had bulbous ends, rather than the simple straight lines of the "swastika". Originally, it represented the "flying hammer of Thor", but I serously doubt that the average 18th century Joseph knew that. He just knew it as a good luck charm.

 

Hi, in Lancaster county PA, it is called the Moravian star. So my take on it for Lancaster guns is that it came from a Moravian background and I have been told it is a guiding star used to get a person home safe. There was settlement of early Moravians in the Lititz area in Lancaster county.

I once suggested that it was a compass rose--the four cardinal points and the four "in-betweens" [N-NE-E-SE-etc]--which would fit in with your "guiding star" term, but I was slapped down by others who proclaimed it the star of Bethlehem, etc. In some old Germanic rifles the "star" is divided exactly as a compass rose on a period map.

 

X or cross on the bottom flat below the front sight, hidden from veiw, keeps the demons fron entering the barrel

If you should end up with Demons in your Gun Barrel you can remove the barrel from the gun and put it in a river for three days, this will wash the Demons away. :thumbsup:

 

[54ball]

The barrel is unbreeched and then placed breech first facing upstream to wash the demons out. The x or cross was placed below the front sight after this process to keep them from entering the barrel. It is possible that only barrels treated in this manner were marked this way making them rarely seen. I see this being done to a new made barrel after everything has been tried. Think about this. A burr of some sharp edges from the rifling process are affecting accuracy. The iron barrel is placed in a stream bottom. Two things happen the tiny iron shards corrode and weaken and the barrel has sand, silt and mud washed through it. After the treatment the barrel is thoroughly cleaned. The silt left in the barrel acts as an abrasive freshening the barrel.

 

[Ephraim]

I think it would be quiker to just work it out with a lead lap.

Ephraim

 

[ricklandes]

I JUST FINISHED UP A BOOK 1942 AND 1944 EDITIONS FROM THE PENN/DUTCH HISTORICAL SOCIETY ON SYMBOLS OF THE 1700-1800 ERA. THE TEMPLATES FROM THE LANDIS MUSEUM, PUT TOGETHER BY GEO LANDIS, SHOWED THE "BETHLAHEM STAR" AS SYMBLOIC OF THE WISE MEN COMING TO SEE CHRIST. IT WAS OF INTERST TO ME THAT THE STAR IS OFTEN (MAYBE MOST OFTEN) SHOWN WIDER THAN TALL. IT WAS BASED ON A POSSIBLE BELIEF THAT 2 PLANETS CAME INTO LINE WITH ONE ANOTHER AND FORMED A BRIGHTER THAN NORMAL WIDE STAR, THUS THE DIPECTION. THIS STAR FORMATION IS ABOUT EVERY 792 (?) YEARS.

ALSO, IF YOU FIND A MARK OF AN "X" LIKE THE ONE I JUST MADE, WITH THE FLATTEN LINES AT THE END OF EACH POST, IT IS MADE AS A "HEX" BY THE OWNER TO BRING GOOD, WARD OFF EVIL AND THE LIKE, BUT ONLY THE OWNER, NOT THE BUILDER, COULD PUT IT ON..

I GOT TO SEE THESE BOOKS BY ORDERING THEM THRU THE WORLDCAT LIBRARY SYSTEM, ANY LOCAL LIBRARY SHOULD BE ABLE TO GET THESE FOR YOU IF YOU WANT TO SEE MORE...

P.S. I ALSO FOUND OUT THAT THESE "LANDIS'" WHO WERE NAMESAKES TO THE MUSEUM AND THE LANDIS VALLEY NORTH OF LANCASTER WERE FAMILY...
YA NEVER KNOW WHAT YOU WILL LEARN WHEN YOU START PLAYING WITH RIFLES :grin:

 

[Dickert54cal]

I saw a gun with lots of Xs around the barrel opening in one of my Muzzleloader Mags this year or last....Great article. If Im not mistaken there is something similar to your post written there in the article as well. :hatsoff: