Designs for the Ornament of Swords and Firearms

Louis-François Devisme

ca. 1850–60 · Leather, paper, pencil, ink, colored wash · Arms and Armor

These designs are part of an album from the workshop of the Parisian gunmaker Louis-François Devisme (active 1833–1886). The album includes thirty-five original drawings, in addition to tracings and inked impressions ("pulls"), showing swords, parts of swords, firearms, and firearms ornament. Together they represent an eclectic mix of Renaissance revival, neoclassical, and Second Empire styles, all of which were popular in French decorative arts during the mid-nineteenth century.

Artist

Louis-François Devisme

Date

ca. 1850–60

Medium

Leather, paper, pencil, ink, colored wash

Culture

French, Paris

Department

Arms and Armor

Credit line

Purchase, Arthur Ochs Sulzberger Gift, 2003