A RARE 18-BORE FRENCH SILVER-MOUNTED FLINTLOCK FUSIL DES CHASSES ROYALES

Details

A RARE 18-BORE FRENCH SILVER-MOUNTED FLINTLOCK FUSIL DES CHASSES ROYALES

BY JEAN LEPAGE, PARIS, CIRCA 1806, THE BARREL CIRCA 1770-80

With browned barrel (lightly pitted) engraved at the breech with two columns and foliage and 'No. 30', the underside of the breech stamped three times with the barrelsmith's mark of Nicholas Leclerc and engraved with the number '55', long narrow sighting rib between the large silver ring back-sight and the silver fore-sight, the former cast and chased with Classical ornament in relief, platinum-lined touch-hole, shaped tang finely engraved with a cloudburst, shaped bevelled lock (lightly pitted) with stepped tail signed 'Le Page Arquebusier De L'Empereur A Paris' and engraved with a thunderbolt, and on the shaped cock with a dragon, moulded figured walnut full stock carved in relief with foliage, chequered grip and fore-end, green leather cheek-pad (leather replaced), full silver mounts including trigger-guard with bursting bomb finial and numbered '30' over '55', and deep butt-plate with shaped borders cast and chased with foliage in relief, the upper finial with an eagle and the lower with a lyre, also in relief, the butt-plate and trigger-guard each engraved with an imperial eagle under a crown, three silver ramrod-pipes, and shortened horn-tipped ramrod, Paris poinçons de titre et de garantie for 1798-1809 with an indistinct maker's mark
38in. (96.5cm.) barrel

Lot Essay

This is one of a group of similar guns by LePage, DeSaintes and Prevost, all numbered on the mounts (usually the trigger-guard) and/or the barrel, and mostly made between 1800 and 1816. Two LePage guns in the Musée de l'Armée, Paris (M 633, M 13245) both have earlier barrels and Napoleonic associations, and the second is vertually identical to the present gun. It is recorded that Jean LePage received an order in 1806 to overhaul and bring up to date the guns of the royal Chasses et Vénerie which had survived the Revolution
A converted gun from this group, numbered '21' and dated 1816, was sold in these Rooms 29 October 1980, lot 109

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