Beautiful Snaphaunce rifle from the Atlas Mountains

A beautiful 18th or early 19th century musket from the Little Atlas Mountains, Morocco, known as a bu-shfer, Altit type. The stock mounted allover with panels of ivory and mounted with silver and brass, all engraved or embellished with decoration. The mechanism is of the snaphaunce type, a legacy from the 16th and 17th century European snaphaunce muskets which were used throughout Southern Europe and North Africa. The barrel of this piece appears to be British as the faint markings near the breech show stamps of the crown over crossed sceptres, the accepted marks of English Ordnance firearms. This form is a scarcer type of Moroccan musket and survives in wonderful condition.  north africa, middle east