OFFICER'S FLINTLOCK PISTOL, Ancient Monarchy reign of Louis XV, around 1750-1760. 34642

OFFICER'S ARCHER PISTOL, Former Monarchy reign of Louis XV, circa 1750-1760. 34642

Varnished walnut wood stock, carved with discreet moldings, adorned with polished brass fittings highlighted by trimmings and other decorations: butt cap with ears and button decorated with a bust of the god Mars, trigger guard engraved with interlacing motifs and a relief vegetal termination. Curled trigger. Rod loops with filigree. Rococo counterplate with a medallion. Square lockplate engraved in fine capital letters "AMAT. ATULE" topped by an "L" with a floral basket; likely from an earlier period considering the style of the pistol. Faceted barrel and upper flatband with a silver sight.

Brass rod with a cap.
Total length of the weapon: 46 cm; barrel length: 28.5 cm; caliber: 15 mm; weight: 1 kg.

France.
Former Monarchy reign of Louis XV, circa 1750-1760.
Very good condition, slight oxidation from use.

PROVENANCE:
From the former PM collection.

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND:
It is necessary to revisit the first name "Lizaint," which is certainly a misspelling of the first name Dizaint. In fact, in the Bas-Limousin region and particularly in Tulle in the 17th and 18th centuries, Dizain (sometimes spelled as Disain or Dysain) was a common traditional first name. It originated from the cult of Saint Dizaint (or Saint Disaint), the local patron saint and first bishop venerated in Tulle, after whom the church and the quarter were named.
Dizain Amat was one of the founders of the Tulle gunsmith, around 1704. The gunsmithing hub of Tulle was structured at the end of the 17th century (around 1690) around several local master gunsmiths commissioned to supply weapons to the Royal Navy and the East India Company.
Dizain Amat is mentioned in the Tulle registers of 1704 as a master gunsmith/master lockplate maker active along the banks of the Corrèze river. He belongs to the very first generation of the Amat family who laid the foundations of the Tulle arms factory, well before its official recognition as a Royal Manufacture in 1777. During this period (1700–1715), the Tulle workshops mainly produced flintlock mechanisms, boarding muskets, and weapons intended for maritime trade (ship owners from Bordeaux, La Rochelle, and Nantes) or for the Royal Navy.

This gunsmith is still identified between 1760 and 1790, but the style of this pistol shows work predating those years. There was a dynasty of gunsmiths: Jacques Amat, mentioned in 1727; François Amat, mentioned in 1747; Pierre Amat, described as a rifle assembler in a genealogical tree, notably indicating his marriage in Tulle in 1784.