PAIR OF GENERAL OFFICER'S POWERFUL PISTOLS TO THE REGULATION OF VENDÉMIAIRE AN XII, SIGNED “Boutet à Versailles”, Consulate - First Empire. 27974

PAIR OF GENERAL OFFICER'S POWERFUL PISTOLS TO THE REGULATION OF VENDÉMIAIRE AN XII, signed “Boutet à Versailles”, Consulate - First Empire. 27974

Five-sided barrels, blunderbussed mouth, originally burnished and gold decorations at the thunder and muzzle, mounted to the barrel by two drawer pins, sights near the muzzle. The barrel is rifled, so-called “hair” or “marvellous” rifling. They bear the hallmarks of Nicolas Boutet: hallmarks on the left side panel: “LG” hallmark of Liège, “NB” variant of the hallmarks of Nicolas Boutet; hallmarks on the upper panel: “LG” Liège hallmark, “Boutet” bar; hallmarks on the right side panel: “LG” Liège hallmark, “BG” fish not identified by Jean Boudriot. Barrels numbered “238” on an upper panel and engraved “238” on a side panel. Frieze of golden shells close to thunder.
Length of barrels 21.9 cm. Length of the barrel with the breech tail 27 cm.
Plates signed “Boutet à Versailles” and scroll hammers with flat bodies. Round iron basins, with spark arrestor.
Plain, cut and inlaid iron fittings.
Sloping stocks in light walnut, finely squared and carved.
Oval silver pommels chiseled in the round with winged jellyfish heads. The caps are hallmarked 1798-1809: oval-shaped hallmarks representing an old man's head seen from the front with number "85", large Paris guarantee, and octagonal hallmarks in height representing a rooster with number "1", title hallmark 950 said to Rooster 1 of the city of Paris.
Wooden chopsticks with light horn tips and iron pellets.
Total length of the weapon 35.8 cm.
Caliber 17.2 mm.

France.
Consulate - First Empire.
Very good state of conservation. Crack in the wood on one example near the muzzle of the barrel on the backplate side of 9 cm, and of 5 cm on the second gun. Crack in the lower part of one of the stocks near the cap on the counterplate side of 4 cm

ORIGIN :
Former Charles DRAEGER (1899-1977) collection, Sotheby’s Monaco, December 7, 1987, lot 113.

NOTE :
BOUTET Nicolas Noël, born in 1761 died in 1833, famous director of the Versailles factory, from year II to 1818; he worked mainly on weapons of reward, weapons of honor and luxury weapons, both white and firearms; these have achieved worldwide fame, for their quality of execution and the originality of their models. He had a factory depot in Paris, 1236 rue de la Loi (rue de Richelieu) in year XI, then, 87 rue Richelieu in 1807; we find him, as a private arquebusier, in 1823, 23 rue des Filles Saint-Thomas, where he worked until 1831. He had a son, Pierre Nicolas, born in 1786 and died in 1816, which sometimes explains the inscription “BOUTET et fils”.