Lot 199
199
THE PROPERTY OF A LADY
A FINE PAIR OF FRENCH PERCUSSION TARGET PISTOLS with sighted fluted octagonal barrels each signed in gold and decorated with encrusted silver and gold at the muzzle and breech, the tangs, locks, and mounts en suite, ebony half-stocks carved with foliage in relief, spur trigger-guards, ribbed pommels each with turned finial, and original dull grey finish on the metal parts: in their original veneered fitted case lined in blue velvet, with accessories (some associated) including bullet mould en suite with the pistols, and Boche patent flask, signed in gilt letters on the lining of the lid, the outside inlaid with pierced brass panels within brass lines, complete with leather travelling cover (repaired), by Houllier Blanchard à Paris, circa 1860

Details
A FINE PAIR OF FRENCH PERCUSSION TARGET PISTOLS with sighted fluted octagonal barrels each signed in gold and decorated with encrusted silver and gold at the muzzle and breech, the tangs, locks, and mounts en suite, ebony half-stocks carved with foliage in relief, spur trigger-guards, ribbed pommels each with turned finial, and original dull grey finish on the metal parts: in their original veneered fitted case lined in blue velvet, with accessories (some associated) including bullet mould en suite with the pistols, and Boche patent flask, signed in gilt letters on the lining of the lid, the outside inlaid with pierced brass panels within brass lines, complete with leather travelling cover (repaired), by Houllier Blanchard à Paris, circa 1860
16¼in.

Lot Essay

Charles Hypolite Houllier (1811-1871) was born into a family of Liège gunmakers. He moved to Paris, and in 1837 married Lucrèce Blanchard, daughter of a Parisian gunmaker. After the marriage the firm took the name Houllier-Blanchard and traded at 36 rue de Cléry. The firm was awarded medals at the Great Exhibition of 1851 and the International Exhibition of 1862, both in London, and the Paris Exposition Universelle of 1867

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