Firearms — 19th century — 1850s
About this product
About this collection
This collection covers 810 firearms from the 1850s, delivered across 2,055 images in 98 ZIP assets — the largest single-decade 19th-century firearms product. The 1850s saw the widespread adoption of the Minié ball and rifled muskets across European armies, the revolver becoming a practical military sidearm following Colt's innovations, and the transition from flintlock to percussion ignition completing across most armies.
Why it matters
The 1850s are among the most transformative years in firearms history — the Crimean War was the last major conflict fought primarily with smooth-bore muskets, and within a decade rifled percussion arms had become universal. This collection captures weapons at that inflection point. The high object count reflects the Royal Armouries' exceptional depth in this period.
Use cases & time to value
- Game & film production design: Accurate period reference for 1850s-era weapons in historical games, film, and television
- AI training data: Large labelled firearms dataset for object-recognition, period-classification, and type-identification models
- Military history research: Primary visual source for comparative study of 1850s firearms technology and design evolution
- Publishing & editorial: Ready-to-license imagery for histories, encyclopaedias, and military reference works
- Museum education: Accessible digital collection for academic and public programming on 1850s arms development
Data schema
| Field | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| object_number | string | Royal Armouries catalogue number (XII. prefix + sequence) |
| object_name | string | Standardised object type name as catalogued |
| class | string | XII (Firearms) |
| period | string | 1850s |
| image_filename | string | Original filename as catalogued by the museum |
| image_format | string | tif (archival high-res), jpg (catalogue), or bmp (legacy) |
| width_px | integer | Image width in pixels |
| height_px | integer | Image height in pixels |
| file_size_bytes | integer | Uncompressed file size in bytes |
Collection stats
98 assets · 810 objects · 2055 images · 1850s
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