There is no contemporary first-hand account of these devices or their use. However, through the design of the devices, such as metal consistency and style, these are often dated to the early modern period (circa 1600). An early mention is in F. de Calvi's L'Inventaire général de l'histoire des larrons ("General inventory of the history of thieves"), written in 1639, which attributes the invention to a robber named Capitaine Gaucherou de Palioly in the days of Henry of Navarre.