Pair of Miquelet Pistols

Francisco Pintan

dated 1757 · Steel, wood (family leguminosae), silver · Arms and Armor

Signed and dated colonial Spanish firearms are extremely rare. These pistols are in the Peninsular Spanish style, which was popular in Spain by the 1740s in reaction to the strong influence in court circles of English and French firearms. Based on the type of wood used for their stocks, the Pintan pistols appear to have been produced in the New World, probably Mexico, by a Spanish-trained gunsmith. The basic shape of the stocks is reminiscent of pistols from Ripoll, a major exporter of firearms to Spanish colonies in the New World.

Artist

Francisco Pintan

Date

dated 1757

Medium

Steel, wood (family leguminosae), silver

Culture

Colonial Spanish, probably Mexico

Department

Arms and Armor

Credit line

Purchase, Arthur Ochs Sulzberger Gift, 2011