Pair of Percussion Target Pistols Made for Display at the Crystal Palace Exhibition in London, 1851

Alfred Gauvain|Michel Liénard|Léopold Bernard

dated 1851 · Steel, wood (ebony), gold · Arms and Armor

Made by the Parisian gunsmith Alfred Gauvain (1801–1889) for display at the Great Exhibition of the Industry of All Nations in London in 1851, these pistols are masterpieces of iron chiseling in the Renaissance Revival style that was popular in mid-nineteenth-century design. Designed by the sculptor and ornemanist Michel Liénard (1810–1870), they were praised at the time as works of modern art that rivaled in beauty of execution many older firearms preserved in national museums. The inspiration for the lizards, snakes, and frogs amid vine branches was perhaps provided by Renaissance goldsmith's works (silver by Wenzel Jamnitzer of Nuremberg) and ceramics (French Palissy ware).

Artist

Alfred Gauvain|Michel Liénard|Léopold Bernard

Date

dated 1851

Medium

Steel, wood (ebony), gold

Culture

French, Paris

Department

Arms and Armor

Credit line

Purchase, Arthur Ochs Sulzberger Bequest, 2013