A cased pair of rare and elegant percussion pistols by Colombo

dating: Mid 19th Century provenance: Milan, Octagonal, rifled barrels of Austrian production (bore needs to be slightly cleaned, well-defined rifling) with remains of damask finishing, signed 'IUST A FERLACH'; only one with front sight. 10 mm cal. at the nozzle. Breech-plates with frame engraved with floral motifs. The tangs of the barrels with fixed rear sight and engraved with racemes. Forward spring locks engraved with racemes, the cocks en suite, and signed 'COLOMBO IN MILANO'. Well-working mechanisms, both with double snap. Ebonized wooden half-stocks with fine, antique, lacquered finishing (well preserved, one with two small cracks; very small signs of use and time). Checkered handles. Very fine, white metal mounts. The butt-plates with classical-taste faces in-relief, probably depicting Bacchus. Very elaborate trigger guards: from the front tang worked with two intertwined snakes, pierced and with heads in relief, to the central element worked as an in-the-round fish and the finger support engraved with scales. The fore-end caps made of metal with a beautiful, embossed dragon-shaped decoration. Triggers with adjusting screw.Kept in their Austrian-style wooden box, covered with briar plaques. Lined with an unusual green leather, ebonized edges. Interesting solution divided into two elements and each half of the case hosts a gun: the lid is provided with loops on one side to mount the staves (missing) to hold the gun when the case is opened. Provided with some antique accessories: a brass and wooden hammer, a detachable screwdriver / nipple wrench, a small glass bottle, two ramrod made of box-wood, metal and ebonized wood, a brass bottle for primers, a dispenser and a bullet mold completely made of iron. Also provided with a small horn and box-wood funnel. Lock with key. Probably a work by Carlo Maria Colombo (1791-1865). From 'Repertorio Storico degli Archibugiari Italiani' (B. Barbiroli, page 184): 'in the 19th century he was the most famous, skilled and brilliant gunsmith and arms dealer of Milan. He produced firearms of the best quality, often very decorated... '.'Der Neue Stoeckel' reports a Jacob Just in Ferlach in 1810 (vol. 1 page 605).This pair is to be compared with an important percussion rifle attributed to Carlo Maria Colombo, sold at our auction house in 2018 (auction n. 80, lot 1031), the rifle had very similar trigger guard decoration and an identical forend mount shaped as a dragon. length 40 cm.