93 - A magnificent flintlock hunting rifle for a lady or young boy, made by de Sainte, the King’s official arquebusier at

A magnificent flintlock hunting rifle for a lady or young boy, made by de Sainte, the King’s official arquebusier at Versailles, of princely or royal provenance: Barrel with two sections: the lower part is round, and the upper part is round with a sighting band extending to the rear sight; made of blued iron, damascened in gold over the first third with foliage, scrollwork, a military trophy, and a vase filled with flowers; it is signed on the band: “DE SAINTE. ARQUEBUSIER. ORDER OF THE KING AT VERSAILLES”; silver front sight surrounded by lightning bolts, with the tip damascened in gold; beautiful silver “V”-shaped rear sight, chiseled with flowers and foliage on a gold background; breech also engraved with flowers on a gold background; 15 mm caliber. Round-bodied lock, chased on the back with a trophy of arms and signed: “De Sainte Arquebusier Ordre du Roy à Versailles”; hammer chased with flowers and the battery of a trophy of arms on a gold background. Silver fittings, hallmarked, cut, and chased with continuous motifs, also on a gold background; the ramrod holder and ramrod slot are decorated with spiral gadroons and gold fillets; the back of the butt plate is openwork, lined with red velvet, surrounded by a silver frieze studded with gold, as is the cheek piece, edged with silver thread braid. The stock is made of burl walnut, carved with foliage scrolls and inlaid with silver; the thumb rest is gold, engraved with the coat of arms of France; on the left side, at the rear of the trigger guard, are traces of a former inventory number, 142?, as well as along the trigger guard, 330? (possibly royal inventory numbers). Fan-shaped stock with a horn tip. Length 126 cm. (Thumb piece previously re-engraved; hammer replaced; the trigger plate is engraved with flowers beneath the firing spring, which is unusual—perhaps it underwent restoration in the 19th century or was refitted with flint?). Date: circa 1767/1770. Very good condition. HALLMARKS: charge and discharge marks for Versailles, circa 1768/1774; letter: “V” surmounted by a crowned “D,” a date mark used by the Versailles goldsmiths’ guild, probably around 1767; maker’s mark: two “8” intertwined, used around 1770 by the Versailles goldsmiths’ guild; this guild worked under the Paris fineness standard; hallmark for medium-quality pieces: a bell, for the years 1768 to 1774. De SAINTE Pierre, arquebusier in Paris and Versailles (1747–1788), admitted as master arquebusier, crossbowman, and gunsmith on October 10, 1747; arquebusier to King Louis XVI in 1763 at Versailles; elected juror of the Paris guild; his daughter, Léonie-Émilie, married Nicolas-Noël BOUTET in September 1788. The exceptional quality of this rifle is such that, in the 1912 catalog, a comparison was made with the famous rifle inscribed: “BOUILLET À PARIS,” housed at the Louvre Museum (M R 435) and bearing the coat of arms of the Count of Artois, Paris 1782/1783, which was once believed to have been given by the City of Paris to the Dauphin, father of the future Louis XVI. It should be noted that in that auction, the rifle was described as having a escutcheon bearing the royal arms of France, which suggests today that this escutcheon, although not original, was affixed at an earlier date. The catalog for the 1936 sale presented it as a weapon from the royal family’s entourage, as it was described as the: “snipe gun known as that of Madame de POMPADOUR.” Although no formal evidence currently exists to confirm these historical attributions, it is nevertheless worth emphasizing the possible relevance of a princely or royal provenance—perhaps Louis XVI (Dauphin before 1774) or Marie Antoinette, both of whom were very young at that time. PROVENANCE: former Claudius CÔTE collection, catalogs of his collection, Lyon, 1912, and of his sale at the Hôtel Drouot, Étienne ADER auction house, December 4, 1936, no. 124, plate XII; auction at the Hôtel Drouot, ADER PICARD TAJAN office, March 23, 1973, lot 104 (at that time, the dog was missing; appraiser Robert-Jean CHARLES) and auction at the Hôtel Drouot, BOISGIRARD auction house, on December 10, 2003, lot 85, WILDENSTEIN collection, then sale by Thierry de MAIGRET, LEMASSON collection, on April 7, 2017, Room 1, first session at 7:00 p.m., lot 39.