131 - *Rare gift set containing a pair of mercury fulminate pistols by Le Page in Paris:

*Rare gift set containing a pair of mercury fulminate pistols by Le Page in Paris: Slightly flared octagonal barrels made of ribbon-patterned Damascus steel, with fine rifling, gold-plated at the muzzles, marked on the side panels: “Le Page in Paris” and “Arqer de l'Empereur,” muzzles with gilded decoration, adjustable silver sights on a slanted blued steel backing, 13 mm caliber; the barrels are marked on the underside: “N 70,” “A 1812,” and the Liège mark; breech blocks fully engraved and numbered: “1” and “2”; marbled steel locks, engraved with animals and marked in the center: “Le Page” in an oval gold medallion surrounded by cornucopias, numbered on the inside: “N 70” and dated: “A 1812,” blued firing pins and large internal springs; variegated steel fittings, cut and engraved with scrollwork, foliage, and animals; trigger guards engraved with foliage and a dragon; short-stocked crossbows in veined walnut, checkered grips, engraved oval caps, surrounded by a frieze of acanthus leaves in ebony. Mahogany-veneered case, with brass moldings and spandrels; the top adorned with a coat of arms in the center; the interior of the lid lined on the sides with red morocco leather, the bottom with green morocco leather, both adorned with a gold frieze; the interior of the box is lined with red morocco leather, part of which is gilded with a metal stamp; the bottoms and borders of the compartments are lined with green morocco leather; It is very complete with numerous accessories, including a translucent horn powder flask with a gilded brass mount, and those necessary for this system: a fulminate pellet dispenser and a tool for disassembling the cylinder forming the bassinet, a numbered bullet mold: “70”; length of pistols 35.5 cm, case 45 x 27.5 x 9 cm. (Slight crack in the lid). Early Empire period. Very good condition. LE PAGE Jean, arquebusier and armorer in Paris from 1779 to 1822, born in 1746, died in 1834. He served as arquebusier to Louis XVI, the First Consul, then the Emperor, and finally Louis XVIII. He invented the fulminate system, patented on April 28, 1810, which he called “his new system”; only a very small number of firearms using this system were ever produced. Unlike his colleague and competitor Nicolas-Noël Boutet, he remained in the good graces of the new regime during the Restoration. He was established at 950 Rue de la Loi in 1798, and later moved to 494 on the same street, which would become Rue de Richelieu; his workshop was numbered 13, which later became number 8. His son Henri, Jean, André, Prospère succeeded him in 1822 and retired in 1842; he was born in 1792 and died in 1854.