Double-Barreled Flintlock Shotgun with Exchangeable Percussion Locks and Barrels

Léopold Bernard|Nicolas Noël Boutet|B. Montagnon|G. Zaoué

ca. 1818–20; exchangeable percussion locks and barrels, dated 1860 · Steel, gold, wood (walnut), silver, horn · Arms and Armor

Perhaps the richest and most beautiful gun from the last phase of Boutet’s long career, this firearm was made by him after the Restoration of the monarchy in France in 1815. Its exuberant decoration is reminiscent of the style fashionable before the revolution in 1789. The gun was so appreciated by its owner that, in 1860, he commissioned a group of skillful gunmakers to produce a similarly decorated set of barrels and locks using percussion caps, an advanced method of ignition developed after 1820.

Artist

Léopold Bernard|Nicolas Noël Boutet|B. Montagnon|G. Zaoué

Date

ca. 1818–20; exchangeable percussion locks and barrels, dated 1860

Medium

Steel, gold, wood (walnut), silver, horn

Culture

French, Versailles and Paris

Department

Arms and Armor

Credit line

Gift of Stephen V. Grancsay, 1942