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‡ A FINE PAIR OF 26 BORE FRENCH SILVER-MOUNTED FLINTLOCK HOLSTER PISTOLS MADE FOR A MEMBER OF THE

‡ A FINE PAIR OF 26 BORE FRENCH SILVER-MOUNTED FLINTLOCK HOLSTER PISTOLS MADE FOR A MEMBER OF THE BRUNSWICK AND LÜNEBURG FAMILY BY THURAINE À PARIS, CIRCA 1675 with blued barrels formed in four stages, formed with a tapering flat over the forward portion and damascened with a pair of elaborate scrolls at the base, the medians chiselled and gilt with a pair of classical figures each holding a frond of laurel and joined by a laurel wreath, the breeches decorated respectively with the figure of Hercules beneath a foliate canopy supported by putti with attendant hounds and a classical figure beneath a similar canopy with bound prisoners (the fore-sights removed, barrel decoration with areas of light wear), engraved tangs decorated with border ornament, foliage with monsterhead terminals and each numbered ‘7’ (worn over the rear portion, numbers faint), signed rounded border-engraved locks decorated with differing scenes including a mounted warrior attacking a serpent, fitted with engraved and chiselled cocks decorated with foliage with monsterhead terminals and chiselled steels, figured light walnut full stocks moulded over the fore-ends, about the locks and tangs (replaced by a Hanoverian court gunmaker in their early working life, small filled repairs), the butts impressed 'No. 7', pierced and chiselled silver side-plates formed of an arrangement of pierced scrolling foliage terminating in a pair of crowned adorsed serpent heads (rubbed), crowned escutcheons decorated with male and female classical busts, spurred steel pommels engraved with beadwork and an elaborate arrangement of foliage inhabited by a series of figures in differing attitudes on a finely cross-hatched ground, fitted with gilt brass caps finely pierced and engraved with scrolling foliage issuant from a mask top and bottom and centring on a silver grotesque mask, engraved steel trigger-guards with foliate terminals, moulded steel ramrod-pipes and steel-tipped wooden ramrods, perhaps the original, 35.6 cm barrels (2) Provenance The Hanoverian Royal Gunroom, 1895, inv. nos. 208, 209 Schloss Marienburg, sold Sotheby's 5th-15th October 2005, lot 757 Literature Inventar der Königliche Gewehr- und Waffenkammer 1895, inv. nos. 208, 209. Exhibition of Arms, Armour and Militaria lent by H.R.H. The Duke of Brunswick at the Tower of London, April 10th-October 31st 1952, pp. 44-45, plate XI, nrs.160 & 161. Stephen V. Grancsay, Master French Gunsmiths Designs of the XVIII-XIX Centuries, New York, 1970, p. 12 Exhibited Arms, Armour and Militaria lent by H.R.H. The Duke of Brunswick at the Tower of London, April 10th-October 31st 1952, nrs.160 & 161. A pair of pistols signed Thuraine à Paris were presented to Charles XI of Sweden by Louis XIV (delivered 1669) and are preserved in the Royal Armoury Stockholm. Another pair of pistols also signed Thuraine à Paris are preserved in the Tøjhusmuseet, Copenhagen (B.956/57). These are all probably the work of the Thuraine who worked with Le Hollandois (Adrien Reynier). Thuraine and Le Hollandois were gunmakers to Louis XIV and are among the most welll-known gunmakers from the third quarter of the 17th Century in France. Their fame is largely due to their names appearing on the title page of the book of gunmakers' designs discussed below. Le Hollandois was, as his name suggests, of Dutch origin and his real name was Adrien Reynier. Together they are recorded as gunmaker’s to the Royal Household but no record of a brevet de logement has been found to show that they were given lodging in the Louvre along with other State Artists. Around the year 1660 they published the now well-known series of engravings including detailed diagrams of lock mechanisms with the engraver Jacquinet. A number of firearms by the makers signed individually are recorded in European ancestral collections.

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‡ A FINE PAIR OF 26 BORE FRENCH SILVER-MOUNTED FLINTLOCK HOLSTER PISTOLS MADE FOR A MEMBER OF THE

Estimate 12 000 - 18 000 GBP
Starting price 6 000 GBP

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For sale on Wednesday 26 Jun : 11:00 (BST)
londres, United Kingdom
Olympia Auctions
+4402078065541
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